ante up

Characters: Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, Dick Gumshoe, Pearl Fey, Missile, Maya Fey, Larry Butz

Rating: 11/10

There is so much going on, let’s analyze

Phoenix is obviously drunk and the bottle has a magatama on it and I’m not sure what to make of that other than there’s probably a joke there about alcohol and spirits haha double meaning y’know? This also adds to my headcanon that Beanix is recovering from an alcohol addiction and uses grape juice to help. Phoenix holding the bottle like that leads one to assume that he was just drinking straight from the bottle like Gumshoe is doing. How did his tie get around his head. Who did that. Did he?? Did someone else?? Where is he looking? Also he’s gonna hurt his knees sitting like that, like cmon man you already have the back of an elderly man, do you really want the knees too??

Miles is sitting in a way that means he probably wasn’t planning to sit for long or that he got up to sit like that to try and get leverage when grabbing the bottle from Gumshoe. Unlike Phoenix and Gumshoe, Miles is holding a glass and wouldn’t be drinking straight from the bottle like the heathens next to him. He probably hasn’t consumed the level of alcohol that a Phoenix or Gumshoe has because he doesn’t look intoxicated really. He’s probably the designated driver since he’s probably the only one here who can drive (and yes I’m dissing gumshoe’s driving I’m sorry but also idk how Larry’s driving is) Why is his hand on the bottle like that? How do you expect to grab it or stop Gumshoe with your hand under it?? Also how he’s like “HEY WTH?” Is very silly to me.

Gumshoe. Without his shoes. HIS POOR SOCKS AND SHOES?? SOMEONE GET THIS MAN NEW FOOTWEAR LIKE WHAT?? When I saw the FNAF movie and it showed how Mike had a hole in his sock, I referenced this art. His shoes are like the red boots I wore to shreds last year bc I loved them so much and I had to put duct tape on the bottom so that snow and water couldn’t get in (it still did). Bro is GRIPPING that bottle and is also drunk

Pearl playing with Missile!! I love it sm it’s so cute, nothing more to say here

What is Maya doing back there?? it looks like she’s holding a rock but I think she’s holding a bowl of petals like Larry is ??where is she going??

Larry is just throwing petals and I don’t think he’s drunk, I think that’s just Larry being Larry. He’s jumping and I think that’s silly . Also I thought he was holding a bowl of rice at first and thought he was throwing it like people do at weddings?

I want to know what the occasion is here. What brought them all together on a lovely spring afternoon like this?? Why are they drinking in the middle of the day? GUMSHOE PUT YOUR SHOES BACK ON WHY DID YOU TAKE THEM OFF

‘I MISSED THE KITE AT THE TOP SORRY I LOVE THAT I WOULD HAVE TALKED MORE ABOUT IT IF I DIDN’T HAVE TO WALK TO MY NEXT CLASS

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

There's quite a few! Kazuma obviously, because people love to take his anger at face value (which pisses me off because I also don't generally get sad when I'm hurt, I also get angry), and refuse to see him in 2-4/5 as a man literally shattering and finally admitting how incredibly not okay he's been for sixteen years.

Raymond Shields and Godot both get hit with fandom racism and people taking their facades at face value - Ray being a walking trauma wound (he's very much like Kaz in that regard, except he is never given the chance to lose his shit on everyone) and Godot actually having a very similar arc to Kazuma, just not haunting the whole game the same way.

But honestly? The most egregiously mischaracterized character? This is a molotov and I know it, but all my DGS friends haven't seen this take yet, so I get to throw it again: Mia Fey.

Mia Fey was not a character I expected to have so much depth to her, but then I started RPing her after her death and really got into her head, and then I had to deal with the fact that she is the single angriest person that anyone has seen, and the only reason no one knows is because she has utterly cultivated an image of not pulling a Kazuma. (I am very weak to Kazuma types, as we can clearly see lmao.)

She was abandoned by her mother when she was ten, she immediately took over parenting for her two-year-old sister, she was abused the whole time by her aunt who quite literally wanted her dead, she had to deal with all of the politics of being the next Master, she had to keep up with her training, she had to be the perfect daughter, and she had to do it all knowing that her only actual value was in protecting her sister, and that not a single person actually cared about her.

Her getting out and becoming a lawyer was honestly the most selfish thing she'd ever done, and if you look at the timing, it's pretty likely she got out right at 18, which... is the same year Pearl was born. She saw Morgan get pregnant and probably realized if she didn't get out, she was going to get murdered, so she ran.

It also explains why Diego acted the way he did about killing Misty: he knew Mia would probably forgive him for that one, because after all, Misty left Mia pretty much for dead in Morgan's hands. Misty could've taken her daughters with her and she didn't, and Mia would have known that. She sheltered Maya, but no one was protecting Mia but herself.

She emphasized trusting people to Phoenix a lot, for someone who only ever trusted one person (Diego), and when she did, he got poisoned. And she never trusted again, not even to Maya.

People really don't see through Mia's facade, because you have to actually look to see through it, because she died before she got a chance to show us who she actually was. Which is funny, because Beanix as a character very much parallels her. We just get to see more of his anger, where we never got to see hers.

No one understands Mia Fey like I do, and I don't talk about her so much, but she means a lot to me.

[ask link here]

This may be a mess, and I could very well be viewing this wrong, but here it goes.

I'm not sure if how Apollo's character has been handled in not the best way comes down to the change in writers/gamerunners or not, but I can't think about it for too long without being frustrated.

In AJ:AA, he was at least allowed to be outright resentful towards Phoenix for the bloody ace debacle as well as jerking him around with no regard to his feelings on the matter, which is something Phoenix NEVER apologizes for. Then Phoenix gives that nice little promise to Thalassa on how he'll look after Apollo because he grew fond of him.

And then Dual Destinies happens, which is where the meat of my complaints take place.

Apollo's best friend has been murdered and all the evidence is pointing towards another friend of his. He had serious injuries from the courtroom bombing and then got assaulted not long after. On a way more minor note, everyone's dunking on him and roasting him constantly, and *tinfoil hat moment*, he sees how differently Phoenix treats Athena compared to him. And outside of lipservice comments about what all he's been through, no one outside of Athena and Trucy truly seems worried about him.

Apollo takes his leave of absence, and everyone's reaction is basically the Surprised Pikachu Face meme.

That made me want to hit my head against the wall, because what the fuck did they expect? He's still recovering from his injuries, his BEST FRIEND was murdered, and he doesn't trust Phoenix to help find the truth. What did they really expect him to do? Maybe it was just bad writing, but I'm not sure.

In a similar vein, when Apollo is confronted with Nahyuta and Dhurke coming back into his life, it's treated as yet another thing to make of him about, despite him clearly not wanting to talk about them and having trauma/negative feelings associated with them. He's left in the dark YET AGAIN when it comes to Maya's kidnapping (I do like that he called Athena out on this), Dhurke DIES and no one besides Nahyuta seems to care about how it affects Apollo. Then he decides to leave the WAA for good in SOJ, everyone's clamoring for him not to go, and I'm just like, are you fucking kidding me?

Then Phoenix comes out of fucking nowhere with his "I'm so proud of Apollo" platitude, RIGHT AFTER Apollo found out that Phoenix considered him to be untrustworthy and unreliable. This is coming from a man who has used him and hid so much from him.

I love Ace Attorney, and God knows I love Apollo and his trust issues/trauma, but I wished they were properly acknowledged.

Laid out like that, yeah - most people are major dicks to Apollo most of the time. Props to Beanix for taking that uppercut on the chin - he deserved it - but that's only the beginning.

I think I've complained about how the WAA - Phoenix and Athena mainly - treat Apollo when he announces his leave of abscence. The last case he was meant to be a part of, he was blown up badly enough to need full-body bandages, passed out because of his wounds, then got hit on the head by a rock that could have just as easily killed him... and they still chew him out for leaving. I get that their focus is on him straying from the path of unconditional trust that Phoenix set up. But the man has suffered physically and lost the one person in his life he could confidently say didn't have anything to hide from him (Clay); they should not be surprised or offended in the least!

The "Phoenix treats Athena very differently from Apollo" point I have seen and I do agree with it. I do think it comes from Phoenix seeing a bit of himself in both of them and reacted in opposite directions based on his current situation. Maybe he decided to be softer on Athena because he realised he made a huge mistake with Apollo, but it doesn't seem to translate to treating Apollo that much better until he sets his mind right about Clay's death.

I guess when you've survived falling off a burning bridge into a running river, you forget that people can still be grievously hurt and might need to take time off work to heal!

That could have been an easy way to keep their concern without making them look like dicks. Phoenix could be the one encouraging a leave of abscence for the sake of recovering from the physical and psychological damage Apollo has endured, only to find he's instead fueling his own paranoia while ignoring his injuries. It's the fact that Apollo is practically torturing himself for this that should be the main source of worry, not that he's taking time off from the office at all.

Not that they aren't concerned about his mental well-being, it just comes across that like they're treating "leave of abscence" as a resignation at best and a mutiny at worst (it's neither of those things, Apollo would still be an employee under a leave of abscence).

Yeah. Yeah. The WAA's attitude around Apollo's leave really does bug me.

it would've been so interesting if beanix and godot interacted. id assume godot would have healed in prison meanwhile nicks still in his flop era and is like really shady and idk man but I feel like they wouldve had a pretty deep interaction. and tbh the sex would go crazy

oh yeah i think their interactions would be batshit incomprehensible to outsiders but an in-depth analysis of that would require more brain processing than i am capable of at almost 1 AM. i will say i think when godot first gets a look at what phoenix turned into (presumably because maya would drag him to go visit godot again because god knows phoenix wouldn't do it himself. he'll be all "wah i'm defiling mia's legacy and godot's gonna call me on my shit and i hate being called on my shit") and to be entirely fair when godot gets a look at phoenix his initial reaction would probably BE something like He Is Defiling Mia's Legacy simply because to all outside perspectives phoenix essentially just. gave up. and also to be fair that is pretty much what he did (because catching kristoph was a total freebie from the universe and would never have happened if not for zak deciding to show up That Specific Night but whatever). anyway since godot more or less stable in his getting-his-shit-mostly-together era i think he would look at phoenix and sort of be reminded of how he was when he woke up from his coma but then he'd be like hey. dipshit. you're still surrounded by people who love you. he'd say all this in his usual insane cryptic coffee ways of course but again it's almost 1 AM. and phoenix is like okay you have a point there but hey that just reminded me do you want to see a picture of the awesome new daughter i got (completely fucking forgetting godot is blind. unless they let him have his visor in prison) and godot has to take two seconds to process the fact that the same man who went running across a burning bridge no fucks given is now a father. anyway so true the minute godot gets out of prison the sex goes fucking insane but before that i do think they have conversations that get so intricately......layered.......when maya is not present that the security guard listening in feels like even more of a voyeur than he would if he was standing inside the bathroom of the the horniest club on earth

i think something they didnt take full advantage of in the aa games is how every characters perspective on phoenix gives us really interesting takes

we play as phoenix and he seems like your typical bland protagonist at first but he is slightly unhinged. shows evidence to criminals, snarky art critic, gets bullied by a 9 year old. believes in people so fiercely and loves some people so much. SUCH a bitch. SUCH a hater. good for him. pretty passive and outwardly mild despite the ungodly amounts of trauma

then we see through mia, and phoenix seems like an absolute idiot, but he’s been emotionally manipulated, gets traumatized, and we go from lmao what?? to oh no.

then we play as edgeworth and we see just how much phoenixs actions impact people. its not exactly hero worship because edgeworth is definitely aware of his flaws and often mocks him for it, but he genuinely changed his life completely. That Man™ is hilarious but also.. hes in the same league as his father. cries

then we play as apollo who definitely hero worships him for all of five minutes. we can practically feel apollos optimism and naivety shrivel up and die over the course of a single game. beanix is cryptic and extremely frustrating to deal with, and hes far less paragon of justice and more ends justify the means. we shouldve gotten a full arc of how the relationship between him and apollo progresses/ is repaired, because beanix would need more of a ‘redemption arc’ if he was a brand new character, so itd be fun to see how they went about it here

then if wed gotten eVEN A SINGLE FUCKIN GGAEM NWEWITH ATHENA AS THE PROTEAGONISGT i wouldve liked to see phoenix as this legal legend. beanix is an enigma (derogatory) and this phoenix shouldve been an enigma (legendary). like think about it. he was wrongfully convicted and now hes got his badge back but takes cases very rarely. uncanny knack for innocent clients. if phoenix wright takes your case, you’re safe. apollo and athena have a wildly different mental image of him while phoenix is lying face down on the sofa like trucy pls can u bring me one ibuprofen :( thanks love you. theres so much potential.

what are your favorite headcanons for 7 year gap phoenix? (i am such a sucker for beanix hehe as you can probably already tell <3)

i may have guessed from the profile pic alone if nothing else ;)

so! beanix thoughts incoming (warning for being disorganized and messy ahah):

- i think that he and Miles had already been in a relationship for a few months when Phoenix got disbarred. Miles tried incredibly hard to support him and be there for him, but instead of relying on him Phoenix just got more and more withdrawn. eventually they broke up, although it was more of a mutual separation where they both knew they'd end up back together eventually

- Miles was torn because on one hand he felt like Phoenix was pushing him away because he was depressed, and he didn’t want to let that happen, not when Phoenix had been there for him at his darkest times. But at the same time he wanted to respect Phoenix’s wishes and understood that Phoenix needed some time to figure out who he was, a) without his badge, and b) without Miles, having built his identity around those things for so long.

- So they separate for a while and Miles does his best to give Phoenix space although he does check in on him and Trucy periodically to make sure they’re okay. and when they do get back together Phoenix is in a better place and they're both just all around more ready for a serious relationship

- Trucy is the #1 thing that keeps Phoenix going, especially at first- not just because he has an obligation to care for her, but just her herself. she drags him out on walks and invites people over and reminds him to take his meds every day and helps him cook dinner and does so many things that made life more bearable for him

- and for a while he feels guilty about letting his little daughter take care of him, but eventually he realizes that this is her way of showing her gratitude for how he'd taken care of her and trying to do the same for him the best way she knows how. they take care of each other <3

- i am so absolutely torn between “the ‘grape juice’ was actually alcohol and he struggled a bit with alcoholism during the 7yg” and “no it was actually just grape juice the man really does love grape juice”. i cannot decide which one i like better because i think both are great takes for different reasons

-he hangs out with Maya on the weekends and they mostly sit around in their sweatpants complaining and gossiping and eating junk food. a couple times she dragged him out to a bar to do karaoke. she also jumps at every opportunity she gets to babysit Trucy

-i don't think he was ever in the best of physical shape but he definitely gains a significant amount of weight during the 7yg. it's not really a big deal to him but he does get a little self-conscious abt it when he thinks about how the people who knew him before must think he really let himself go. maya, who has always been on the chubbier side, points out to him that chubbier people are softer to hug. trucy concurs. as silly as it sounds, it makes him feel a lot better

-he and Trucy have a bunch of silly little family routines/inside jokes/things that only the two of them know about. they play a game every night and they do best 2 out of 3 rock paper scissors to determine who gets to pick. when they go for a walk the first person to spot a wild animal gets to choose what they have for dessert that night. every year for Christmas Trucy buys him the weirdest pair of socks she can find, and he buys her the most outlandish hat he can find and they both have to wear them the next day. every time they leave the house they race to see who can get their shoes on and be ready first. they play the floor is lava. once a month they stay up all night watching horror movies and eating ice cream directly out of the tub.

-at first the piano thing is very much just a cover for Phoenix's real job at the club but he figures he should learn just enough to be believable, and in the process he discovers it's actually pretty fun and kind of meditative, and starts trying to learn for real. Trucy joins in and is immediately way better than he is. (he's a little put out by this but she cheekily promises to give him pointers)

okay re your last post im curious now so: top 5 insane phoenix moments 👁👁

oh no. what have u unleashed girl helNUMERO UNO not necessarily his most insane, but my personal favourite--him going through an ‘all prosecutors are terrible people’ arc in aa2 purely because he’s projecting his fucked up emotions about edgeworth killing himself after the combination of 1-4 and 1-5 events. like he was so heartbroken over his not-boyfriend dipping on him like that that he decided to paint all prosecutors w the same brush of betrayal, and enter his manic widow era (boos from the crowd over me using that turn of phrase AGAIN like sorry that it’s literally Him in aa2) he’s such a zero-sum fucker i love him

second fave insane phoenix wright moment would be pulling an elle woods and going to law school for a man. but he actually pulled an elle woods on crack, because: edgeworth was never his boyfriend, phoenix was already in college studying something we can only assume he was good at, and his decision was made just because he saw a picture of his not-boyfriend looking a little bit sad in the newspaper. like ?????????

third fave is what ive already talked about in my last ask, ie how codependent he is and how he’ll fall into depressive episodes if there’s not someone around to keep him busy and occupied

fourth fave is whatever the fuck he had going on in aa4. a lot of fans like to say beanix was mostly an act but i dont think it was, because in the sections in 4-4 (lots of fours going on here this wasn’t intentional i promise) where we played as him his behaviour was very congruent with the internal monologue we got to see, like there was literally no persona going on. i think after he got disbarred he was just like, oh word? i can fully lean into how much of a cunt i am now??? and went wild with it, because trilogy phoenix, while being a bitch, mostly kept this entirely to himself and still tried to seem Normal to others, probably because he needed people to take him seriously (i’m holding back laughter rn because whoooooo in the trilogy actually did take him seriously LOL). meanwhile beanix had none of this baggage thanks to being a disgraced disbarred ex-lawyer <3

fifth fave is eating glass to try and protect his girlfriend from being convicted of murder like jesus fucking christ dude. phoenix learned the phrase “ride or die” and was like ok is anyone actually gonna take this literally and then didnt wait for an answer. (him running over a burning bridge to save maya from a potential murderer on the loose is also in this category)

aaaaaand an honourable mention to how much of a doormat he is. and also how indestructible he is. and--[i am forcibly removed from the stage]

hmnnn also . 👀 phoenix + 8, 9, 10, 28, and edgeworth + 1, 10, 16, 30??

phoenix:

8. Your favorite outfit of them

original trilogy suit SLAY! the blue suit is ICONIC it is TIMELESS it is SILLY. i love his beanix fit also but that's less about the outfit and more about him being in his cunty era so im not counting it

9. Your least favorite outfit of them

college fit........ dont get me wrong. i love it. its ridiculous. i love pathetic sobbing pink bitch phoenix. however that sweater is SO fucking ugly what kind of asshole has his own initials on his shirt. on his SHOES. literally what was he fucking thinking hes supposed to be an art major

10. Describe the character in one sentence

daylights in court as a bumbling bluffing idiot, moonlights outside of court as a bitch, consistently silliest guy

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

i cant even fucking choose. this man has eaten glass. this man has ran across a burning bridge. this man has busted down multiple reinforced doors with nothing but sheer determination and his bare hands. phoenix called edgeworth daddy in court. his whole everything is unnecessary. its impossible to pick

and now for edgeworth:

My first impression of them

before i played the games my impression of him from fanart was damn this man is gay and cringe and i dont care about him as much as phoenix, and then when i actually started playing i was like WOAH this man IS that gay and cringe also im obsessed with him

10. Describe the character in one sentence

mr. pussy pussy cunt slay dont cope with your feelings ever and always remember: faking your death may not be a good solution, but it is always a solution

16. A childhood headcanon

made his dad teach him how to iron his own neckties

30. The funniest scene they had?

in bridge to the turnabout when he's telling phoenix dahlia was executed and he says something about her heartbeat only being of interest to historians or something????? ALSO WHEN GUMSHOE says something about edgeworth celebrating and the game cuts to a screen of edgeworth going "WOOOOOOP!" completely emotionlessly and then cuts back to gumshoe. also also when we spend half of game 2 thinking edgeworth fucking died and then he comes back in the middle of the most stressful case of phoenix's career like whats up everyone, i went to therapy i know the secrets of the world now, phoenix listen to me you have to figure out what being a lawyer means to you. ugh. and also when he called mia a bimbo. this man is so funny i cant stand him

1 10 46 and 78!!!

1. Favourite Attorney?

phoenix, of course!!! although i also like apollo :)

10. Favourite trial from all the games?

oh my god there are so many good ones to choose from, but either bridge to the turnabout from aa3 or turnabout succession from aa4! bridge is like the PERFECT case to end the trilogy on bc it really connects everything from the previous games and brings it all full circle. and turnabout succession is fantastic too bc we get a lot of backstory surrounding trucy and phoenix's relationship which i LOVE, along with more beanix content! the dynamic between klavier and kristoph is also really interesting, so that was fun to see during this case too.

46. Character you thought you were gonna dislike but loved in the end?

i feel like i could say this about most of the prosecutors in this game lol like when i first played the trilogy, i went into it with no knowledge of the games whatsoever so i really disliked miles at first. but of course, everyone starts coming around to him in turnabout samurai, and then turnabout goodbyes happens and everyone falls in love with him.

it was also kind of like that to an extent with franziska and godot for me as well, though not as much as miles. it's hard to see franziska's character development over the course of jfa bc she's very stagnant over the course of that game, but in farewell my turnabout, we do finally start to see how she changes. her changes are much more subtle, i think, purely bc of the way she was raised, so her character development isn't going to be as in your face as miles' was.

and with godot, i really think the concept of him is super cool bc here's someone who takes his love for someone a little too far. he's OBSESSED with getting his revenge and is completely blinded by that that he's no longer recognizable as the man he once was. god i could go on for a long time about him, but i will say that i think they really did ruin his character by making him sexist. he had so much potential, but then they threw that in and it was just completely unnecessary, while also falling into stereotypes

78. Who or what got you into AA?

one of my internet friends told me about the game in summer of 2021? and i think i bought the game right at the end of august of that year bc we were going on a road trip and i wanted something to play on my switch. i can't remember how he convinced me to play it lol but i'm so glad i did!

Anon from yesterday back again! About the set-up, a post on twitter explained the theory much better and I gotta look up the name. The gist is that Phoenix could've proved that he was set up. He did not have the time to have a forgery done since he got the job for defending Zak only the day before. Plus the money. Instead, there is no evidence at all he even tried. Why? Because he'd seen the courts' corruption before and decided it didn't matter anymore, plus too dangerous.

(continued) You could even point at his reply to the Judge's words and wonder if Phoenix has nothing to say because he knows it's useless to argue. Hidden powers have already decided that they will attack him and try to drag him down.

okay, okay, hello again anon, good to see you back with another excellent ask.

I always think that there are two ways to look at Phoenix's disbarment:

a) that the problem was straight-up with bringing forged evidence into court, no matter what the circumstances were.

b) that the problem was that Phoenix was assumed to have created the forged evidence and bought it into court intentionally.

Ace Attorney really flips around on which of these is true in universe (it's a plot point to some extent in 1-5, 3-3, 4-1, and 4-4) but considering that Phoenix gets his badge back almost immediately after it's proved that the second wasn't the case, I'm going to assume that presenting forged evidence accidentally is either not an issue or less of an issue. This tends to be the fanon majority stance too. (It's worth noting that Edgeworth is implied to have pulled some strings irt getting Phoenix's badge back. Ymmv and so on.)

With our framework safely in place, the question arises: If Phoenix could have avoided punishment, or at least public shaming, by revealing the set-up, why wouldn't he? As you point out, the forgery doesn't make sense once you start to look into it and we know that Phoenix did put a lot of these pieces together. Hell, he could have made these arguments when Misham testified during the Gramarye trial. But he doesn't. (Warning: this is a more headcanon-y meta than my last one, because the 7yg is... a gap and we have very little concrete info on what the fuck Phoenix was up to. He got a kid, worked on jury trials, played good poker + bad piano, and had some sort of frenemyship with Kristoph. That's pretty much all we've got).

Firstly: Corruption. The AA court system is ridiculously corrupt, and at the point that Phoenix is disbarred, he becomes emblematic of this - he's a man with a history of revealing injustice - notably Von Karma & Gant, but even without them he still won some high profile cases - and once he's disbarred, it's implied that the narrative is flipped, turning him into a figurehead for that which he fought against (dark age of the law, etc). The obvious conclusion is that his disbarment was a convenient way to discredit him - powerful and corrupt figures (and in AA there are many) don't need to fear Phoenix Wright if he isn't a lawyer and his reputation is ruined. The counter argument is that Phoenix... has always done some questionable things with evidence (1-5, 2-4, and 3-3 stand out to me). But no more so than anyone else in this fucked-up universe. Either way, Phoenix has always worked in a system stacked against him, and it's very possible that he suspected there to be manoevering behind the scenes (and there was! We know Kristoph existed and was purposefully working against Phoenix.) HOWEVER, I don't believe that any of this would stop him on it's own, because it's been long established that Phoenix Wright does not give a shit about bad odds.

So, what would make him accept it? Anon, you mention danger in your ask, and I do see that as partially true - Phoenix isn't concerned about danger to himself, but he has a kid to care for. I would say, however, that especially when we come to Kristoph, as much of a bastard as he is, Phoenix had no evidence that he could be violent to the point of murder until 4-1. Before that, his influence was long-distance life ruining, rather than active threat (though long-distance life ruining is pretty scary on its own when you're raising a small child with low funds). I do see that as a cause, but one of many, and this is the point where I'd like to go back to the conversation on motivation.

I am going to make the argument here, as I did in the other answer, that Phoenix, in the 7yg and possibly elsewhere, is depressed, and that one symptom of that is a loss of motivation. It's implied by the game itself, and makes more sense than most of the alternatives.

(I won't get too personal, but the years of my life where I dressed like this... not good years lol)

My headcanon has always been that by the point that Phoenix had sorted out his guardianship of Trucy and got himself out of that initial low that came from having his life ruined, it was too late to fix his disbarment and he had to change tracks, and that's when he became interested in MASON. (Not to self-promote, but I'm realising that a lot of what I've said here is rephrased ideas from The Path Once So Clear, so if you want 15,000-ish words on the subject, it's there). Of course, when talking about Phoenix's 7yg depression, I think it's also important to mention that Phoenix in AA4 is very much implied to be putting on an act (which is pretty common in AA4 in general. Most characters in that game have both a public and private face). Being 'Beanix' - eg. the piano/poker player with no prospects who works in a shitty restaurant and takes nothing seriously - is a convenient cover while he works on the things that he doesn't want to be targeted for (and here we come back to the corruption angle).

As to how far the depression helps that act... well, that could be a whole conversation on its own. Once again, I'm very much coming into headcanon here, but I'm reminded of the phenomenon where someone with depression will deliberately exacerbate it, either as a form of self-harm or as some attempt to fit a role (artists are especially prone, due to the 'depressed artist' stereotype. I see it most in the emo scene). Beanix has always seemed to me as someone who is deliberately messing up his own life - he repeatedly provokes Apollo, essentially sabotaging their relationship, he puts himself into dangerous situations for no real reason (this is a general Phoenix trait), and despite the fact that we KNOW Maya and Edgeworth were supportive of him during this period, we never actually see them around, presumably because he's keeping them at a distance. How much of this is for the act, and how much is real?

Again, we've come very much off topic (whoops) but I see a lot of this as another aspect of Phoenix's low self worth - is there a difference between the image he projects of a man who has given up due to being disbarred, and the real Phoenix who is still actively working behind the scenes but is very obviously not doing well because he can't 'save people' - the thing which so much of his identity relies upon? I think there is, but I also think the image too often becomes the reality, and AA4 does carry this underlying theme of how wearing these masks of a public persona can affect your 'true self'.

As always, I genuinely love to see other people's takes on this, either in the tags, in reblogs, or via asks. This one is very headcanon-y, and I know there some entirely different perspectives out there, some of which I really like. (Also this one got to be heavy. Look after yourselves guys.)

Rating Chibi Phoenix Merch I Found on Mercari (Japan) For Your Entertainment

Under the Read More qwq

1. Feenie charm Feenie charm!?! (10000000/10) ❤💙❤❤❤❤💙❤💙✨✨

I have literally NEVER seen this charm before and it looks official and just FJSNFJSJFHSHF AAAAH!!! I NEED HIM IN MY LIFE!!! ❤❤❤❤🎉🎉

2. You know him, you love him: Phoenix Tsum!! (20/10 would buy again)

I actually forgot to download one of him so take a picture of mine qwq. Happiness is stored in the Phoenix Tsum Tsum. He's also very nice quality and likes to sit on people's heads ^^. Stacks VERY nicely with other tsums like Miles and Maya and is also the only AA plush I own.

3. Post Trilogy Narumitsu Phoenix qwq (9/10)

I don't like the thick outlines on his tie and his eyes are a little big but he is a littol man and I adore him. Need more post trilogy plushies AND there's a matching Dadworth. Free him.

4.) Beanix Charm (🤢🤢🤢/10)

GROSS GROSS GROSS. His fucking TOES. I am ALL for Beanix merch but this artstyle is not great and just 🤢. No thank you put him away. Also makes me think of the Kristoph from this line. NASTY. *sprays him down with a hose*

5) He is clean now (4.5/10)

Better. Not the best out of the line but doesn't make me feel sick to my stomach (I am so sorry Kay). Hides his toes like a professional and respectful boy. What are his eyebrows.

6) [Mario World Ending Theme] (100000000/10)

Why the FUCK were you discontinued??? You came out like 2 years ago. Please come back I miss you. Every day I search mercari and eBay for you and you never show. I miss you. Also Hi Miles. Literally WHY are you this hard to find some of y'all better start selling yours I swear to god. VERY huggable. All over my animal crossing island. (This was on mercari Japan and already sold so I couldn't get them either way qwq)

7) *do do do do do do do do* Baby. (15/10)

CHILD. He is SO small!! There's a matching Miles one you can connect to him as well! Very cute ^^ and clever design. My god someone save him he is scared.

8) He's just a little man sir (8/10)

Not too interesting. It's a phone strap but he's comically small and I love him. Look at his little smile.

9) Anime Charm (6/10)

Not great but also not the worst one. Overall the line is cute (I have a couple charms from this line ^^). Go off king his hair is hard to draw (despite it looking way better in a charm from the same line-). The green REALLY clashes with that shade of blue. This line is cute but how did you mess up the main character so much??? Probably one of the only Phoenix charms you can get your hands on in the West.

10) Last but not least: Concert Phoenix! (20/10) ❤❤

He's so cute!! Look at him go!! I love this artist's style SO much please let them do more merch the 15th anniversary charms SLAP. His little BLUSHIES!!! ❤❤

Anyways case and point: Happiness is stored in the Chibi Phoenix, have a nice day!