Narumitsu/Wrightworth Fic Recs! (Part 1, Multi Chapter)

Feel free to explain your reasons in the tags! (I'm very curious)

Sincerely yours,

Phoenix Wright.

I was writing a response to this but it got so long that I wanted to make it it's own post. (Click the link for a more in depth analysis :)

But to summarize, I think RTFA confirming Miles Edgeworth didn't intentionally forge evidence aligns with his established character in the first four cases. Mainly because Edgeworth is characterized as someone who does care about the truth even before his return in 2-4. After all he forfeits his win in 1-3 to help Phoenix convict Vasquez.

I like this choice too and I don't think it really softens his character arc. Edgeworth still hides evidence, updates autopsy reports, and coaches witness statements. He's still incredibly ruthless and has convicted innocent people. Honestly it's the fandom that constantly softens Miles's character and barely holds him accountable for his actions.

theres a lot you could say about miles edgeworth being reconned out of (being implied to) forge evidence in rise from the ashes and how it kind of softens his character arc but in the end the only opinion i really have is that you either have to take all of it or none of it at all. not everyone has played investigations 2 yet but after the release of the official localization people will have no excuse not to recognize that manfred von karma was also didnt forge evidence and was just tricked into doing it by the chief prosecutor in whats surely a deliberate parallel to the rfta situation. you either need to take these two together or take neither of them. theres a lot to be said either way and the fact the writers made this choice both at all and for von karma specifically is very interesting and i honestly like it as a character choice for both of them

Sobbing thinking about how much I love Phoenix and Franziska's rivalry in Justice for All.

The fact that both of them are so attached to winning their cases because they don't know who they are outside of being a lawyer. Phoenix says "let me defend you" and Franziska says "our battle begins now" because they don't know how else to say "don't leave me behind". Phoenix hides his negative emotions because "for a lawyer, the worst of times are when you have to force your biggest smiles" and Franziska hides her vulnerability because "a Von Karma is someone who is destined to be perfect".

Both of them react with anger and bitterness at getting abandoned. Phoenix blames himself for Miles' disappearance and Franziska blames Phoenix because they'd rather do that than feel utterly helpless. And they are too busy fighting each other to realize they both love Miles, they both want to save him, but they're both incredibly wrong about how to do it.

Comparing some quotes from Farewell My Turnabout to AA1, you start to realize what Miles Edgeworth’s redemption arc is really about…

Turnabout Sisters: "Innocent"...? How can we know that? The guilty will always lie, to avoid being found out. There's no way to tell who is guilty and who is innocent! All that I can hope to do is get every defendant declared "guilty"! So I make that my policy. Versus Farewell, My Turnabout: It doesn't matter how many underhanded tricks a person uses... The truth will always find a way to make itself known. The only thing we can do is to fight with the knowledge we hold and everything we have. Erasing the paradoxes one by one... It's never easy... We claw and scratch for every inch. But we will always eventually reach that one single truth. This I promise you.

Rise From the Ashes: But in order to fight crime on my own, I'd need a "weapon." It's scary, but I've known that to be true for quite some time now.  Versus Farewell, My Turnabout: Working together is the definition of teamwork. It's the power to find the truth.

Edgeworth’s redemption isn’t about him gaining +100 morals. He turns his cynicism that used to blind him from seeking the truth into unflinching realism. He goes from being detrimentally independent to understanding the importance of teamwork. 

Miles Edgeworth is just as ruthless and unrelenting, but decides to use it to try to do good. He’s still overly focused on a singular goal, but instead of guilty verdicts, his goal is the truth. He’s still an insensitive prick. He acts condescending to the people he wants to help. He doesn’t fully comprehend how much his actions hurt the people who love him. But he does everything he can to help Phoenix save Maya. And he sees through Phoenix’s and Franziska’s misbeliefs when it comes to practicing law, and does his best to help them find themselves too.

Thinking about AA role-swap AUs and if prosecutor Phoenix Wright would also “choose death” and then I remembered that in Farewell My Turnabout, Phoenix tells Edgeworth it might be time for "Defense Attorney Phoenix Wright chooses death". In the bad ending where Matt Engarde is declared "not guilty", Phoenix literally wanders the streets. Before I played this case, I thought Maya dies in the bad ending which prompts this reaction, but no he doesn't even see Maya again.

The more I look at canon, the more I realize Phoenix is as much of an emotional mess as Miles is, likely even worse. Phoenix's identity has always been so tied to being a lawyer, to saving people. He condemns one innocent person (Adrian Andrews) and he completely falls apart. And honestly, the same would probably happen if he got Matt Engarde "guilty" and Maya dies. Of course prosecutor Phoenix Wright would leave like Miles did.

Evil Athena Cykes

Character Idea: defense attorney whose gimmick is similar to Psyche Locks except instead of figuring out what they’re lying about with logic, you just have to figure out which insults would be the most hurtful to that particular person until they break down and cry. Her name is Eris Charge

I’ve been getting into Ace Attorney! Scene from Farewell My Turnabout (no spoilers tho pls, I haven’t finished the case yet)

This aligns exactly with what Edgeworth said at the end of Turnabout Goodbyes.

“For the longest time, I thought that I might have killed my own father. I thought I might be a criminal. I became a prosecutor in part to punish myself”

Edgeworth projected himself onto every defendant he prosecuted. It was probably the only way he could live with himself.

replaying 1-2 and it’s finally clicked that edgeworth thinking phoenix could murder mia was less about phoenix and almost entirely about him, who’d been living with the knowledge he killed his father despite loving him, idolizing him, and constructing his world view around him. edgeworth indicting phoenix for his mentor’s murder was one of the biggest signs he’d been carrying a guilty conscience for the past 15 years of his life.

I think Miles feeling like his father would be disappointed in him is far more interesting if he came to that conclusion by himself instead of being "taught" to believe so by an external factor or being somehow trained to be something Gregory would have "hated" (and let's be real, Gregory would not flip a switch and hate anybody for anything, let alone his son).

Miles feeling like this by himself means there was a moment of self-reflection, even if that reflection did not reach the actually correct conclusion. It offers opportunities to explore how his brain works, themes of survivors guilt and grief that linger long after dl-6. That's interesting! That's intriguing!

What do you get from deciding there was some grand plan to form him into "a person Gregory would hate" (despite the obvious problems with that logic in the first place)? Cartoon villainy I guess? That's not very fun to explore...