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the-judicial-assistants-notebook · 1 year

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Okay. Let's talk about Kay in The Forgotten Turnabout.

I've mentioned in a post before how I think Kay doesn't have a purpose in AAI2 (as in, AAI was all about the Yatagarasu which is her story, but AAI2 generally has nothing to do with her, and you can see this change just by looking at how she's positioned in the promotional material for the two games:

[left AAI; right AAI2.] In the left poster, while she's at Edgeworth's back, it's clear that they're both the main focus. In the right, though, she's on par with Gumshoe).

And I think the result of her slight lack of direction in the game culminates in what happens to her and her character in Forgotten.

From the beginning of AAI2, you can kind of tell that Kay was written to a bit different from how she was in AAI. She's still fairly consistent with how she was there, but the game kind of bounces between her original characterisation and her newer one, where she's slightly denser (see her calling the laser pointer a mole in Target, when she should definitely have known what it was; and them explaining to her what a prison is in Imprisoned like she wouldn't know??) and less concerned with maintaining formality around Edgeworth, although they haven't interacted since the end of AAI (see her partner opening line changing from "Yes?" to "Yeah, what's up?"). She also seems more eager for his approval (there are a few times when she questions/asserts her effectiveness as an assistant when I don't remember her ever doing that in AAI), and, overall just a little more like Maya.

In Imprisoned, when she freaks out, Kay hits Ray, which is notable because we've only seen her resort to violence before on purpose and as a child (whereas Mia/Maya have both hit people out of emotion). I'm not going to go through the whole game, but I bring it up because there's an argument to be made that they're trying to replicate the Phoenix-Maya dynamic and push the Dadworth interpretation in AAI2 -- probably because they realised it'd be popular with the fans -- and this comes to the forefront in Forgotten.

First, just a note about AA's amnesia cases. The thing about these cases is that they're usually done to explore some formerly unseen aspect of a character (as is with Phoenix and the one in DGS), BUT they're always true to the nature of the character (as is most clearly observed with Thalassa). This is... not so in Forgotten.

The parts about Kay that appear to remain in Forgotten are her politeness and sense of honour, both of which get dialed up to 11 and both of which we already know she possess. Everything else about her personality, though, is altered and has always reminded me of Iris (if you made a parody of Iris's soft and seemingly delicate nature). That's mostly because (1) they have similar sprites

and (2) because they're rehashing Edgeworth's mini arc in T&T (which I don't mind because T&T did leave room for that concept to be explored further) where he acts as the defence for, you guessed it, Iris. Looking at it more closely, though, I can definitely see bits of Maya mixed in, too.

The most obvious parallel to Maya, and by extension Phoenix, here is that you act as a... not-prosecutor who defends their assistant from murder charges that even they think they might be guilty of (Reunion, and Turnabout, anyone?). Just like Reunion Maya, Forgotten Kay has poor self-esteem (albeit to a greater, comedic degree), thinks of herself as weak and useless, and becomes reliant on Edgeworth for both her emotional and situational needs (this is not a dig at Maya; she was in jail after having her first big channeling session result in death. Her reaction was natural).

Another less serious but obvious alteration made to make Kay seem more like Maya here is her relationship with food -- which I know sounds ridiculous but!! It's really what tipped me off to her Maya-fication to begin with!!!

You see, in Forgotten, there's a point where Kay talks about hamburgers:

Kay: Umm... OK. I remember a faint scent... It was a wonderful smell coming from the counter of a food stall... I followed the fragrance, only to find a perfectly sculpted burger, resting on two golden buns... The tender and juicy patty made my taste buds sing with joy... Yes, I can remember what I thought at that moment! ...I want seconds!

The thing about this that stands out to me is that you never get a line about food like this from Kay in AAI; and I know this, because not only is the only time Kay ever brings up food in AAI with regards to Swiss rolls (which are notably her favourite treats), you have the option of presenting food to her, which gives you this dialogue:

Kay: It's a box of Samurai Dogs, right? Ah, but see, I'm a Jammin' Ninja fan! So, while I would love to have one... I'm going to be strong and resist the urge!

She would have one but she'll refrain. It blatantly goes against how she acts in Forgotten, and it's so obvious that they only did that to make her more like Maya!!! They even use burgers!!!!

So why am I even getting all uppity about this? There's nothing wrong with being like Maya is there? She's a great character. And, yeah, she is, but the point of Kay is that she's meant to be a foil to Maya... and Edgeworth.

Both Maya and Edgeworth lost their parents at a very young age. So did Kay. But, unlike Maya and Edgeworth, Kay was specifically written to have had the emotional support and strength she needed to move on from her father's death. Her character was created in a way that shows how you can still love and respect a dead family member (and choose to continue their legacy) without being held back by grief and trauma the way Edgeworth largely is. By making amnesiac Kay behave in a way that is so self-deprecating and reliant on other people for her emotional needs, you are implying that this has been who she is deep inside all along and diluting that message of being able to move forwards while still holding onto your love for the people you've lost. It undermines the resilience that has been a part of Kay's core as a character from her conception, and basically flattens everything that makes her... Kay.

Now, this is obviously not great, but what really gets to me about this is that they didn't need to do this for the case to still work. They could have given Kay a milder form of amnesia, where she has a gap in her memory regarding why she was up on that roof and what happened, and the story would have largely functioned the same way. The only reason I can think of for why they do a complete 180 on her personality is because they wanted to use her to develop Edgeworth's character.

Because think about it: we've seen Kay put in a position where she's been accused of murder before, and that didn't affect our or Edgeworth's desire to save her. That drama and the feelings invoked by placing Kay at such risk would still exist; the only thing that would change is Kay's reaction to it. We know from Ablaze that she wouldn't just fold and rely on Edgeworth's help; she would fight back. Her behaviour in Forgotten just doesn't quite align with her usual character (aside from being extremely honourable and polite), which makes me wonder why they did it. And the only answer I can find is that it gives Edgeworth someone to 'save' in the greatest sense of that word (because, remember, she's also extremely emotionally vulnerable and dependent on him here) and furthers his development as a character.

You remember at the beginning when I said Kay didn't have a purpose in this game? I think the developers felt that, too, and they decided that her purpose would be to make Edgeworth a better person and strengthen his arc by giving him someone to protect, without really considering what this would do to her character. This case was never about Kay; it was always about Edgeworth. And, honestly, that should have been obvious from the very moment you realise that Kay is being granted an amnesia plotline, because that whole thing about amnesia in AA being used to reveal parts of a character previously unseen? Yeah, that was never going to work with Kay. Because Kay doesn't wear a mask. She is who she is... until she isn't.

Honestly, I've said pretty much everything I wanted to say about Forgotten and Kay, so thank you if you've read this far. I really appreciate it 💝💖💕 The rest of this is me basically talking about how this change affects my feelings on the game and this interpretation of the Kay-Edgeworth dynamic, so you can stop reading now if that doesn't interest you and still get the basic point of this post.

I suppose I'll start by reiterating that I do like AAI2 despite what it may seem. The characters it introduces are some of my favourites in the franchise, and, in fact, the actual plot of Forgotten with the PIC is my favourite part of the entire game. I thought it was brilliant, but I just needed to get this out because... I don't know, it was bothering me for some reason hskdhdj Like, AA has some amazing female characters, but I know better than to go into it expecting some kind of boundary-pushing piece of new feminist media, believe me; it doesn't surprise me that they used Kay to push Edgeworth's character forwards. It is his game, after all. But I guess it's just a little frustrating to see after they genuinely achieved something great with her characterisation in AAI only to... there's no less inflammatory way to put it, infantilise her? a little? for the sake of developing a male character?

(Especially when I don't think Edgeworth even needed it?? Like, I'm pretty sure he would have been just as adamant about saving her if she had been her normal self so mmm???? It was likely just done to make him seem liked he'd be a good father and up his popularity a bit more, honestly. As if he needed it).

Again, I have no issues with anyone who enjoys the father-daughter (or brother-sister) dynamics pushed by this case; it's literally in the text, I can't say you're wrong for it and like. My opinion shouldn't matter to you anyway! It's fandom, do what makes you happy. But I personally can't get past what is actually being suggested when the game, or fanworks, echo the traits grafted onto Kay in this case within them. Like what it means when she's essentially made to take a few steps back so she's less as at peace with her father's death than she was when we first met her, or less independent and self-assured than she usually is -- especially when this is done only for an older male character (most likely Edgeworth but it could be anyone) to come in and either see themselves in her, thus coming to a conclusion that helps them better themselves in some way, or take on a "fatherly" position that lets them comfort her back to a level of confidence she would usually be at anyway, while simultaneously coming across as being such a good person (which is usually the focus/point of these kinds of things).

And, like, if you don't see a problem with Kay's characterisation in this version of their relationship, that's perfectly fine! If you think I'm reaching and do enjoy the Dadworth dynamic for what it is, then please don't let me rain on your parade. My main thing is that I want better for Kay, and this case just didn't satisfy my need for that.

Anyway, yeah! That's pretty much it. Thank you so much for everyone who read all of this, and I hope you got some amusement out of it if nothing else. Feel free to tell me your thoughts, too!

#ace attorney #kay faraday #ace attoney investigations 2 #aai2 #i didnt put many concrete details about the case here so i think people who havent played it yet wont get spoiled? but ofc i encourage #everyone to play it and form your own opinions. this is just in case youre wondering what my new EMBARRASSINGLY long post is about and want #to read it blind hskdhdks #i didnt put this in the post but another thing that's funny about this case is how they minimise its effect by pushing the nick-maya #similarities right from the start of the game. like you'd expect this case to have drastic long lasting implications on their relationship #but because they're already shown to be closer at the start and because marrying amnesia kay's character to normal kay's is so mindboggling #(they are honestly just two completely different characters) it doesnt really change anything between her and edgeworth?? it's quite funny #because she literally just says 'thanks! :D👍' and then they never bring it up again. it's so. it feels like they tried to have their cake #and eat it too and they somehow blew up the oven

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batsplat · 5 days

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Qatar 2004: a back-of-the-grid penalty, an "unbelievable" start, a lot of overtakes and a crash

Time stamps

News & explanation of penalty

0:00 - news of penalty, "... Rossi's team who took it upon themselves last night, and Biaggi's team as well, to go out there and clean that spot on the grid and there was a complaint from the Repsol Honda team..."

1:23 - press room chaos, "... when I went down between the 125s and the 250s, when nothing had been quite confirmed, there was a lot of very excited Italians around with bits of papers in hand and accusations..."

2:08 - Gibernau's opportunity, "Looking at the championship, this is a huge race for Sete Gibernau. He knows that he's starting from the front row of the grid; he knows that Valentino Rossi starts from the back row of the grid."

2:25 - race predictions, "[Rossi] has struggled hasn't he, this weekend, we've seen him go off track quite a few times as well."

On the grid

2:40 - Rossi on the grid, "Just wonder what his mood is. Will he look and smile? No, he won't. He is seething."

3:38 - Gibernau's reprieve, "He's got to win this race."

3:54 - Gibernau's form, "... so one thing Gibernau can't complain about this season is his luck..."

4:14 - Rossi preparing, "When he's really concentrating you don't know what's going to happen."

Start of race

4:21 - warm-up lap, "[When we usually] ride with Valentino Rossi, he's riding to the front of the grid, in pole position or on that front row. Now we're going to see the grid all in front of him."

4:45 - race start, "Valentino Rossi has made up - whoa - around ten positions into the first corner, maybe even more."

5:24 - overtaking Hayden, "He's already back into that eighth position that he would have been on on the grid if it weren't for that penalty."

5:55 - Rossi's starts at Yamaha, "He's been making some good starts this year, actually, has Rossi on the Yamaha, but never quite as good as that."

6:09 - overtaking Bayliss and Capirossi, "Rossi surely has now moved up into seventh place."

His progress

6:54 - stuck in the pack, "He's having to work very very hard to get past the likes of Colin Edwards and Alex Barros and Ruben Xaus."

7:08 - overtaking Barros, "... and Rossi and Barros have touched! And Rossi stays on board and raises his hand to Barros, Barros runs it wide and Rossi knows there that he's the guilty party for that one."

7:36 - replay of Barros overtake, "He's apologised to Barros but the upshot is that he's got past him."

7:53 - Nakano's engine fails, "Of course all that does is move Valentino Rossi further up the pack." [...] "... it's helped Gibernau and Checa in front because while all that happened with Nakano blowing smoke everywhere, everyone else behind him has had to slow down."

8:12 - Barros falling back, "Barros is actually now down in 17th place, so I'm not sure if he was hit by Valentino Rossi and perhaps he's damaged one of his brakes or his clutch lever or maybe even part of his body."

The crash

8:42 - Rossi crashes, "His hands are on his head [...] He runs wide onto the grass, onto the astroturf, loses control of his Yamaha..."

9:41 - the championship standings, "Fourteen points, what a lifeline for Sete Gibernau."

The full race is available here.

In 2004, Valentino Rossi came into Qatar with a 39-point lead in the championship over Sete Gibernau. Including Qatar, there were still four races to go, and Gibernau's excellent early season form had tailed off. Gibernau had made the podium in all of the first six races (including 2 wins), but in the six subsequent races had only scored two podiums (1 win) and had DNF'd twice. The title seemed like it would be Rossi's once again - his first on a Yamaha.

This was the first time MotoGP visited Qatar and the conditions were brutal: then still a daytime race, it was very hot, with all the riders struggling on the slippery sand-covered track. Rossi had gone off the track repeatedly in the sessions leading up to the race, qualifying only in eighth. The concern was that the dusty track would lead to poor starts, so Rossi's team used a scooter during the night to lay down rubber on his grid slot. The next morning, there was outrage - and Honda filed a complaint against Rossi. (It is a little unclear whether the main instigators were Respol Honda, who were supposedly officially behind the request, or Gibernau's Honda Gresini team, whose team boss Fausto Gresini allegedly took the complaint to race direction.) The physical evidence along with a blurry photo reportedly taken from the press room was enough to sway race direction. A six second penalty was applied to Rossi's qualifying time, leaving him to start at the back of the grid. Yamaha filed a counter-protest against Camel Honda rider Max Biaggi, whose team had swept sand off the grid slot, and he was given the same penalty.

The penalty infuriated Rossi and he blamed Gibernau and his Honda Gresini team directly for what had happened. He considered it a dirty game from Honda given that riders typically got away with tampering with grid slots (usually in the context of wet races where towels would be used). It is unknown to what extent, if at all, Gibernau was directly involved in the complaint - he denied it after the race, publicly saying he thought Rossi "didn't deserve" the penalty. Here is what Rossi reportedly said in the immediate aftermath of the penalty (from Stuart Barker's 2020 biography):

“I’ve been looking for an excuse not to talk to Sete. Today he gave me one.” “Sete was the one who was behind all this,” he said. “He has acted like a child. It is like a knife has been pushed into my back.”

In any case, Rossi made an excellent start from the back of the grid, getting up to ninth by Turn 1 and making up two more positions in the first lap. He continued working his way through the field, including by overtaking Alex Barros:

Rossi had made it up to fourth and was sitting behind Colin Edwards when he ran wide onto the grass and crashed on only lap 5 out of 22. He walked away head in hands at his mistake and had badly injured his little finger - though not enough to be an issue for the rest of his season. As he put it in press before the next race in Sepang: “I have a hole in the finger, but I don’t think it’s a big problem for ride this weekend”. Gibernau won the race, making it a Gresini 1-2 alongside teammate Edwards. Rossi's championship lead had been whittled down to a mere 14 points with three rounds to go.

Rossi was still furious at Gibernau, reportedly calling his team "bastards" on live television, and, of course, vowing that Gibernau would never win another race again. For the rest of the season, he took matters into his own hands to ensure his promise would be kept. He won the remaining three races - including with two risky last lap passes on Gibernau in Australia, when a second place would have been enough to clinch the title.

Here he is in his autobiography (published in 2005) on the benefits and perils of riding angry:

At the 2003 Australian Grand Prix I was very fast, I was ahead, I was leaving Capirossi way behind. We were still in the first part of the race when I was made aware that I was now second. I was still in the lead, but I was in second place [initially in seventh] because I had been given a ten-second penalty for ignoring the yellow caution flags. Yes, the silly caution flags which the stewards, for reasons known only to them, insist on putting in invisible places, where nobody can see them. The same thing had cost me a win at Donington a few months earlier. "Enough!" I told myself. And, from there, I went on a tear. Without realising it, I started going even faster. I gained back nearly a second per lap, and, by the end, I was once again in first place. I had made up the ten seconds and there was still time to increase my lead. It's not as if I had been biding my time before the penalty that day. I wasn't planning on saving myself for the end. No, I was going as hard as I could. It's just that, afterwards, I went even harder, crazy as it sounds. I turned my rage into pure speed. Most riders can't do that. For them, rage just raises the level of tension and increases their chances of making crucial mistakes. I'm like that too - some of the time. Qatar in 2004 is a good example of that. I remember, I was absolutely furious because Honda had filed a complaint and I was forced to start from the last row. In just a few laps, I had come back up the field into fourth place. I should have calmed myself down and waited for the right moment. Instead, I fell. Looking back on it, that was a moment of uncontrollable folly. Normally it doesn't work that way. Normally I can control it. Or, at least, my brain can. And I'm thankful for that, or else I'd really be in trouble!

^"This time, and for once, Valentino Rossi does not escape."

#valentino rossi #//#vr46 #sg15 #mb3 #i know people know about the qatar curse but i worry there's not enough appreciation for how funny the actual qatar race was #hey can anyone think of any other examples of a 25 year old rider being sent to the back of the grid for reasons they saw as unjust -#- only to drop a masterclass on the field; bullying other riders until they flew too close to the sun and walked away -#- with zero points? a rider known for always being cool losing their temper? possibly with a little bit of post-race controversy?#looking back and reaching out in apology at somebody they'd pushed aside? can anyone think of anything?#d**** pls don't snipe me for this #also shades of jerez 2020 and various 2015 races ofc. narratively rich race - as is what follows

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