This is a post about Phoenix Wright. Using a JJ icon because a gay cop is totally suited to a post about gay lawyers shut up.

So, yes, I have just powered through Phoenix Wright 1 and 2 in slightly over a week what the fuck is wrong with me I only just got my DS on the 24th of May and the only reason it took me 8 days to finish the games was because there was a day or two in there where I had finished PW1 and hadn't bought PW2 yet.

IT IS SAFE TO SAY I RATHER ENJOYED THESE GAMES


First of all, I LOVE EVERYONE oh my god. Maya is a wonderful and darling bundle of mischief and optimism and support and I missed her so much between 1-4 and 2-2. Gumshoe is a giant wonderful teddy bear of scruffy love and I am continually floored by his fantastic loyalty to and admiration for Edgeworth, oh Gumshoe, and also Gumshoe/Maggey OTP y/y. Edgeworth it should hurt to love him that much I didn't know it was possible to love him that much oh Edgeworth you fail at people and yet you are so hardcore and these two things somehow do not conflict at all YOU ARE A WONDERFUL MAN and so homosexual for phoenix what the fucking hell. Phoenix himself is... I don't think I've ever seen a protagonist whose head was more fun to be in than his, I love his internal snark and his faith in his clients and in Edgeworth and I just, I just, oh, Phoenix, you are the best lawyer ever yes you are. ALSO GAY but you know.

It's a hard contest right now between 1-4 and 2-4 as to which one is my favorite case. 1-4 was magnificent development for both Edgeworth and Gumshoe, who I think both just barely edge out Phoenix as my favorite male character in the series (which does not mean there is a deficit of love for Phoenix over here), and for Phoenix too... and the case's resolution was so immensely satisfying I was so relieved for Edgeworth and oh. It was a very satisfying case to unravel, too, and with Phoenix and Edgeworth's shared backstory and individual backstories coming to light, and god dammit Edgeworth don't martyr yourself after I worked so hard to save you and the wonderful adorable awkwardness at the end and the family photo and <3333333. 2-4, on the other hand, was a SADISTIC EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER and I don't think I have ever been that tense and scared and upset over a game, I was so worried for Maya the whole time it hurt and I agonized for Nick oh god Nick it'll be okay we'll all come through, look, there's a light at the end of the tunnel OH WAIT IT'S ANOTHER TRAIN ghdskjsglz. I was pausing to wring my hands in my nightgown I was so upset for everyone oh god. THAT FUCKING CASE.

Now that the incoherence is mostly out of my system...

It seems to me like there are three main themes in the series, two of which smash my buttons all to kingdom come: trust, family, and turnabout. The main cast... even though some of them are often at odds with one another (Gumshoe's and Edgeworth's conduct towards Phoenix comes to mind), and Phoenix and Edgeworth are OBVIOUSLY GAY, they all feel like a big patchwork family, more than anything. The connections between characters are emphasized, and everyone just loves each other so much. From Phoenix's decidedly brother-sister relationship with Maya (WHICH IS FUCKING ADORABLE), to Gumshoe's loyalty to Edgeworth, to the Fey girls' relations to one another, to Edgeworth and Maya's awkward friendship... it's all family. They just feel tied together, in a way that feels solid and enduring, whatever else may happen. I loved in 1-4 when Gumshoe was snapping at the cops to keep searching for evidence, because Edgeworth was not guilty, period. And when Phoenix refused to entertain the notion that Edgeworth might be guilty of anything he was being accused of, and rejected it from anyone who presented it to him, including Edgeworth himself.

Also Phoenix-Maya, because it deserves a dissertation all its own. I can't... I can't see how anyone can ship them, in perfect honesty. It is, of course, blatantly obvious that they love each other to death and that Nick will put himself through the wringer for Maya, but - I think it was 2-3 and 2-4 that irrevocably sealed it for me, that it's brother-sister all the way. The way Phoenix grouses about her all through 2-3, about how ridiculous and impossible she is and how annoying and how it'd be nice if she joined the circus so he could get some peace and quiet... and then, when she's kidnapped in 2-4, the way he goes to pieces and can't see straight and acquiesces almost immediately to the given demands, just to keep her safe. The transition between bitching about her to doing anything for her would be jarring and sort of creepy if this were a romantic relationship; but it is entirely consistent, and heart-rendingly sweet, if she is a little sister to Phoenix. There's nothing lesser about their love if it's filial. To the contrary, really. As brother and sister they mash my buttons harder than they would if they were romantic. Even the fact that she calls him "Nick" is cuter as a sister's nickname for her brother than as a pet name for a lover. Phoenix is so totally Fey by adoption. (Or Maya and Pearl are Wright by adoption. Hmm.)

I mean come on how is this not big brother Phoenix celebrating with his little sisters.

... Plus there's the age thing. (... yes I know Gumshoe and Maggey have the exact same age difference DOESN'T COUNT they're both older she's an adult. she can totally be OTP with Gumshoe shut up.)

The "trust" theme... man. The trust between Phoenix and Edgeworth is the central fucking theme of the series, and it's... they're... yes, they are amazingly homosexual but that isn't even the point. They exist in their own category of closeness. Phoenix changing his entire life plan for Edgeworth, just because he trusted in what an idealistic little boy had to say and believed in the man that little boy became. Edgeworth being shaken to the core by the reality of that faith, being changed by it, being saved by it. Gradually coming to trust Phoenix in return. Being able to admit things to Phoenix (and Maya, but mostly Phoenix) that he's probably never breathed a word of to anyone. Helping Phoenix out covertly in the 1-5 investigation, and tag-teaming with him in the trial. Phoenix's incredibly deep hurt and betrayal when Edgeworth goes into hiding. His vicious tantrums to Edgeworth's face when he comes back, and Edgeworth shrugging them off. The way they finally came together in the latter portion of 2-4. And the really unique relationship they have to each other in that case, with Phoenix ultimately trusting Edgeworth to help him, oppose him, and help him by opposing him. That blew me away.

In a big way, these two games are about the trust between Phoenix and Edgeworth. Shit, they even start highlighting it in the last bit of the 2-4 trial, just to make sure we don't miss that. XDDD

And this ties into the last theme, too: the turnabout. Gyakuten Saiban/Turnabout Court was a great name for the series. There are reversals all throughout the two games, not just in court. Expectations are upturned all around. Things you thought were insignificant become critical. Throwaway jokes come back and knock you flat with poignance. Character situations change; Phoenix and Edgeworth have almost entirely reversed their dynamic between 1-2 and 2-4. In the first game, what you have is Edgeworth doing everything he can to push Phoenix away, while Phoenix trusts and believes in him anyway and keeps trying to help him. By 2-4, you have Phoenix doing everything he can to hurt Edgeworth back for running off, while Edgeworth still trusts and believes in him and keeps trying to help him. And in both situations, it works out roughly the same way. Phoenix saved Edgeworth in spite of himself; Edgeworth saves Phoenix in spite of himself. It's all turned around.

It's in smaller things, too. Pearl makes what I thought was a throwaway comment about how Phoenix would "walk across a mile of burning coals" for Maya, and I dismissed it because it was just more of Pearl being silly with her Phoenix/Maya shipping... until near the end of 2-4, at which point it suddenly hit me that it was goddamn prophetic. Phoenix's hilarious nightmare at the beginning of 2-1 makes a heartwrenching reappearance in 2-4. It's the same damn sequence, with the same imagery and the same words and the same music. And yet, where we first saw it as a hilarious bit of crack to start off the new game with, it becomes also an excruciating look into the torture of Phoenix's situation that makes your heart break for him. 2-4 darkly revisits a theme that was only lightly touched on in 1-3: the "hero" as murderer. In 1-3, everything turned out okay, Will was innocent, and the "hero" was still a hero. In 2-4, the "hero" really is a monster.

It's even present to a smaller degree in the way the art and music are used. Over the course of the first game, I found that my feelings about seeing the cross-examination faceoff between Phoenix and Edgeworth had gradually shifted from "oh shit, Edgeworth's gonna kick my fucking ass," to "everything's okay, Edgeworth's got my back." It was the same goddamn art. Only the context changed, and that made all the difference. The same thing happened in 2-4, when I went from being unable to get a bead on Edgeworth at all to understanding what he was doing, and it was the same shift from trepidation to reassurance.

(I know I keep coming back to 2-4 it was intense okay.)

And the freaking Steel Samurai theme song. It's hilarious! It's dorky! Hahaha, samurai show for kids! -- slowed down version becomes one of the most tragic and mournful tracks in the game.

This sort of diverges, also, into an observation I had about the game in general - it uses its limited resources incredibly well. One expression can mean any number of different things in context. The first game's objection theme, while a cool enough song just to listen to, brings with it a sense of complete elation when you hear it in-game, a rush of yes and triumph that I've never gotten from a game track before. See aforementioned points about the faceoff and the Steel Samurai theme. Everything is presented incredibly well - somehow, things like Edgeworth displaying a smirk sprite I've seen eighteen times before and saying "I had fun tonight" just break me with happiness, and I get more worked up over Maya's kidnapping than I have about a lot of entire games. Even the "bipbipbip" sound effect that accompanies text falling away on certain lines makes me go GNNH. I sort of broke when the game played Maya's theme while Phoenix was reading that (horrifyingly final oh god Maya) letter Maya left in the wine cellar. This game knows how to use its god damn resources, I tell you what.

I-I'm still kind of incoherent and flaily. WHY ARE THE PIXEL PEOPLE DOING THIS TO ME. I WAS WOUND UP LIKE A CLOCKSPRING THROUGH THAT WHOLE LAST CASE. IT ACTUALLY HURT TO SEE EVERYONE GOING THROUGH THAT HORRIBLE SHIT. And then oh god the relief.

That fucking card was the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my life, oh Maya, oh Maya. ... Another example of a thematic turnabout, actually. I mean... This card, the calling card of the assassin who has kidnapped her and terrified her and is starving her, this emblem of somebody absolutely horrible who is making Maya live a nightmare, and making Phoenix's life hell with this hostage situation...

And Maya draws on it. Turns it into a sweet little picture of a smiling Nick. Nick, who she just knows will come through and save her.

Nick, who does come through and save her.

S-so yeah. I just... *weak flailing* LOVE. I can never possibly squee enough about these god damn games. THE LAWYERS HAVE STOLEN MY HEART. Is it September yet?