#aa worldbuilding

[ace-attorney-characters-analysis]

About two types of Chief Prosecutors and their Succession Order

Following this post about Chief Prosecutors in AA Universe, here is a quick summary of what we know about these people.

There are two types of Chief Prosecutors (we know that because of a Japanese text): Excelsius Winner, unnamed Chief(s) from Turnabout Sisters and Turnabout Trigger, and Miles Edgeworth (Kenji Kyokuchou, 検事局長); and Lana Skye as Chief Prosecutor of LA and Gaspen Payne as Chief Prosecutor of Khura'in (Shuseki Kenji, 主席検事).

The main difference between them is that the first bunch is so-called Chief Prosecutor of the ENTIRE COUNTRY (so Japan in Japanese release, and USA (or at least California) in English one), whereas the second bunch is only Chief Prosecutors of their respective district (LA level or even less for Lana). Gaspen Payne situation is a bit trickier. Khura'in IS a whole damn country, albeit a small one, so in all logic Gaspen Payne should be in the first group. But if we look into the Japanese text, we'll see that he himself insists that he is Shuseki Kenji, aka the District Chief Prosecutor. However, the concept of Chief Prosecutors itself is a new one to this country and it is implied that Gaspen Payne just bragged his way into their courts. He might as well claimed to be the Lower Chief Prosecutor (as to not be easily called out — there should be many LCP in the USA but the Higher one is singular and could be easily checked).

Obviously, as these are two different positions, their responsibilities also differ. LCPs are responsible for running their local Prosecution Office on a day-to-day basis (look after other prosecutors, ensure they have access to evidence and such. Maybe it is even up to them to distribute cases between prosecutors?). HCP, on the other hand... Well, whatever US Attorney General is up to in real life, I guess.

Also, there is a position of Her Majesty's Attorney General (Shihō chōkan, 司法長官) in TGAA which Stronghart is aspire to reach, buuuut we won't look that way today.

These two positions can be named differently to reflect their status better: Chief Prosecutor of the District and Chief Prosecutor of the Country; Chief Prosecutor and Prossecutor General; District Head and General Attorney; etc. The official translation made a blunder here, and it is up to fans to interpret these positions as the one or different, and decide for themselves how to name them. However, I'll refer to them as LCP and HCP from this point onward.

Because, well, the point of this post was to speculate, who took these positions through the AA timeline.

Let's start with easier topic of HCP. Our understanding of the timeline is as follows:

Excelsius Winner (before 2000 – between 2007 & 2016)

At least one unnamed Chief Prosecutor (between 2007 & 2016 – c. 2026)

Miles Edgeworth (c. 2026 – )

Immediately, we can dig around that 'one unnamed' person that succeeded the position from Excelsius. As we discussed previously, it is NOT meant to be Lana. During Sisters when Redd White called HCP, she was LCP. It is further supported by the fact that the voice on the other end of the line was male and just... didn't sound like Lana at all. Too... pliable. In Trigger we also see an old dude with grey hair whose first order of business after attempted association was to call Edgeworth and push everything onto his shoulders.

And, while we can't confirm it, per se, I see no problem in treating HCPs from Turnabout Sisters and Turnabout Trigger as one and the same.

Cool. We have a guy with a dozen of replics, a glimpse into his personality, an image of his back, and only ACTUALLY confirmed years of operation from 2016 to 2019. We also have his daughter.

Wait, what?

So, if you've never looked at stuff outside AA games, you might not realise just how many extra content there is. Sure, we can't claim it to be canon, but it could as well be supplementary canon. If it doesn't contradict games, we can as well take some bits and pieces to enrich our understanding of the canon.

In this category lies audio drama 'Turnabout Combination' (you can watch the whole translated and illustrated thing on Youtube), in which we hear about — you guessed it — a Chief Prosecutor (and it is confirmed to be a HCP as Japanese text specifies Kenji Kyokuchou). His name is Usagi Oishi (which was translated as 'Warner Hare' by Rubia the Royal Pomeranian). He has a daughter that he really loves, buuuuut by the snippets of dialogs we learn that he is a bit paranoid and overprotective of her. Also in this story he entrusts Miles Edgeworth with a task not really related to his job. Sounds familiar?

While the episode in its entirety can NOT be 100% canon (there are timeline things that are impossible in main game), we can still look at this extra material and say, 'Why not? Why wouldn't I give an existing name to this guy?'

After this inclusion we receive this:

Before 2000 – [2007–2016] — Excelsius Winner

???[2007–2016]–before 2026 — Warner Hare (Usagi Oishi)

dec 2026–present — Miles Edgeworth

By analysing age periods, we can see that absolute (current) minimum to hold this position is 7 years, and current (possible) maximum is 20 years. And while I would like to be more specific about the details or bring more people to the table, the sad thing is, I didn't find more HCL in the AA media. There may as well be more people between Excelsius, Warner and Miles, but canon prosecutors just don't quite reach that mark.

So at this point let's move to LCP of LA (sorry, Gaspen and Khura'in).

The only person we know who took this position is Lana Skye from 2015 to February 2017. Pretty easy, but boring and not a lot. Maybe we can deduce something else?

While it is not stated in any AA media that I know, we can pretend that there is at least a requirement for a person to be able to become HCP. So let's arbitrarily throw this idea: in order to become HCP, the person should at least serve one year as LCP. I don't know if it sounds logical, but it'll give us a little more to work with. Specifically, we'll reach this timeline for LCP:

At the very least before 1999–before 2000 — Excelsius Winner

before 2000–around 2015 — Warner Hare (Usagi Oishi)

2015–feb 2017 — Lana Skye

no earlier than 2019–dec 2026 — Miles Edgeworth

This retrospectively lines up nicely for Warner Hare's promotion — if we were to believe the 'LCP first, HCP next' rule, then Warner Hare was promoted to HCP at roughly the same time Lana Skye was transferred from Police to Prosecutor's Office.

However, as Lana Skye's situation at this position was VERY unusual (forced transfer + arrest), her time of 2 years can NOT be considered normal. Average LCP probably holds this position for much longer. Nevertheless, we can barely say any more about the subject as no other canon character was introduced as LCP in their debut or later appearances (you don't count, Gaspen). However, if we were to think about who is currently (AA6 and after) holds this position, then out of all characters we know in Prosecution's Office that are still working but never quite appeared on screen to be reintroduced as LCP are:

Winston Payne — Whom I REALLY doubt;

Klavier Gavin — He, however, appeared in AA5 and it kinda was never mentioned that he is someone other than a regular prosecutor. If he was to become LCP, it would happen after AA5 — and that still means that someone held this position during and before that;

Eustace "Who Would Have Thought?" Winner — Somehow the most realistic candidate out of all of our known options. He was never seen after 2019 and had plenty of time to learn. And, well, with Miles Edgeworth of all people at HCP place, I feel that he has the highest chance to succeed him on LCP place in dec 2025, shortly after AA4.

...yeah

[absolxguardian]

Actually, hanging is still practiced for Japanese executions.

Yeah someone else pointed that out. Since states set their own execution methods, that would be a Japanifornia motivated change to the legal system, rather than one of the federal level changes to the legal system between our universe and the localized AAverse.

Given that electric chair executions have always been pretty long; and that no one with even the slightest qualifications (as in medical training) is gonna be administering a lethal injection, so they can often go terribly as well; a properly calculated long drop hanging will be fast. You just need to still have professional hangmen about. I didn't know that Japan still practiced execution by hanging, but it's not that bad of a choice if you've already decided to use the death penalty.

While I haven't found a concrete answer, the ending of execution by hanging in the US coincides with the end of public executions. It seems as if states saw the noose as associated with the barbarity of public executions, just as the guillotine is associated with the Reign of Terror- regardless of its actual level of cruelty as a method of execution. It's also associated with lynchings in the US, further keeping it from seeming like the "civilized" way for the state to kill people.

I made this post just to let people know about the worldbuilding. I remember seeing a joke fanart of Edgeworth and Franziska captioned "watching our dad get the lethal injection", and it was only by going through my screenshots folder that I realized why it bothered me slightly in a way that couldn't be attributed to morbid jokes. Also it means that fic writers can use all the appropriate slang for settings where execution is done via hanging.

As an addendum, since each US state has its own system for what constitutes a capital crime, it would seem appropriate to base headcanons off of Japan's rules. Especially since Dahlia's stay on death row of 5 years matches up with what usually happens. I'm saying this because someone getting the death sentence for a single murder in Japan is highly unusual. Which leads me to believe that Dahlia was eventually convicted not just for Doug's murder, but Valerie's as well. An attempted murder conviction againist Godot and Dahlia's whole vibe would also play a part in swaying the Judge. This also opens up the possibility that the rest of the culprits who committed full fledged murders didn't get death sentences, unless they killed multiple people as well. The prosecutor who handled the case would have to convince the sentencing Judge that it was a particularly fucked up murder.

(Although death row inmates aren't kept in solitary, gets to talk to Morgan)

[smosh-stuff]

Apocalypse AU - No Man’s Land Map

Since I’m fleshing out this au, I decided I needed a map for reference. So I drew one! I thought my chicken scratch added to the,,, Vibe,,, of the map... but if you want a version where you can actually read the text on the map, there’s a version with the labels in type text below the cut!

LEGEND

Deadlands: Land that’s completely barren and devoid of life. Even the Mutts will only stray so far in. It’s not actively radiated, but the soil is so damaged that nothing will grow. The weather conditions are brutal and difficult to even survive in. It’s well known that you should only stray into the deadlands if absolutely necessary.

Mountains: A rough mountain range that lines the west border of the land. The changes made to the terrain in the wake of the explosions left it craggy, treacherous, and full of hazards. Not to mention, the Mutts- who are one of the few creatures capable of actually navigating its sharp peaks- seem to have made a home among them. The mountains are considered unclimbable by most. 

Irradiated Land: What you see is what you get; the south of No Man’s Land is bordered by a large expanse of land which is still so heavily irradiated that travel through it is a deathwish.

Water: Drinkable bodies of water. You may come across other ponds or streams, but if it’s not marked on a map, it’s best to not touch it unless you’re desperate. It’s hard to tell clean water from what’s irradiated or poisoned, and they say safe or sorry for a reason.

Mutt Nest: Areas that Mutts have taken over. They’re adaptable creatures, so their nests can take many forms, from ruins, to caves, to shelters that they crafted themselves from debris like boulders and dead trees. They tend to live and travel in packs, much like survivors. Another similarity is that you can never tell how many there will be in a nest. Some may hold four or five, others, eleven or twelve. Only the truly powerful or truly stupid would ever step foot in a nest.

Ruins: There are dozens of ruins scattered through the wasteland, but those marked on the map are larger, more notable ones. Structures that have been identified as malls, towns, military bases, radio stations, or factories. It’s rare that you’d find something like food or clothes in ruins these days- most of those supplies were scavenged in the early days, and it’s doubtful that much of anything would have survived 40 years anyways. But ruins are useful for scrap, which can be pawned, salvageable building materials, and so on. They can also make a temporary shelter in a pinch; if you can fortify it well enough to last the night.

Team Camps:  Survivor camps are usually only built for the purpose of having a shelter to sleep under and a place to build a fire to cook and rest by. Any smart survivor pack will set up by some sort of tree, or stick up their own structures, to hang things like clotheslines and racketeers. A racketeer is any device that’s made to scare off Mutts. The Mutts have all similarly evolved to have extremely sensitive hearing. The racketeers, usually made of things like cans, bottles, and cutlery on a string, are designed to make a constant clattering noise, which will ward off the Mutts. The fire is usually placed near the center of camp. Lurkers, the nocturnal type of Mutts, are extremely sensitive to light, so having a fire going all night long will usually be enough to protect a small camp.

The Toxicitea camp has been standing for a short while. It was originally just a small hut- a minuscule ruin, which was probably a hunting shelter of some sort before the explosion- which had been repaired well enough to serve as a livable shelter again. Later on, they added the body of a wheel-stripped van to the area, and a sort of tent-hut was built after that.

The Mushroom Clout camp is somewhat new. It’s cobbled together out of an abandoned motorhome, the shell of a travel trailer with its underside completely removed, and a sizable canvas tent.

Market: The Market is an area where survivors go to buy or sell things. It’s situated in a cluster of ruins that was probably a township in its prime. Most of the buildings aren’t actually permanent stores; traveling salespeople and caravans- packs of survivors who are nomadic and generally self-sustaining- come through periodically, and will set up a shop temporarily in any available building to sell goods. Permanent businesses are hard to sustain and protect, but a few have managed so far. 

Among these is the Deaf Mutt tavern, which was founded by a survivor named Monica, who was shortly after joined by another named Tommy. The tavern provides food, clean water, and if you’re lucky and look trustworthy, maybe even a place to sleep. Monica and Tommy are really the only permanent “staff”. It’s known that if you ask for a job and they like you, you can hang around for however long you’d like, and help out in exchange for food. The tavern is seen as a neutral meeting ground for any pack and gang, and while staying in one place so long is dangerous, the Deaf Mutt is considered such a sacred place by most that trying to damage the building or threaten Monica and Tommy is likely to get you killed before you can.

Roads: Most of the roads are destroyed by now. The ones marked on the map are only the largest ones; partially because they’re the only ones worth marking, and partially because they’re the only ones that even lasted this long. Even if they’re visible, the roads aren’t drivable by any stretch of the imagination- but that doesn’t really matter. Gasoline is a distant memory in the wasteland, and cars only exist as heavy shells that can be broken down for scrap or refurbished as shelters. The roads can serve as a reliable path to the larger ruins, though, if you have a map navigate them.

EDITED MAP

[ace-attorney-characters-analysis]

A Rabbit Hole of Mousetraps

A small study—which won’t really lead to anything—about the history of mousetraps in the real world and in TGAA, carried out by Nitpicker with a Japanese dictionary and a dream.

If you examine a mousetrap in TGAA:1-2, the characters will say the following:

And, to put it mildly, that bothered me.

These remarks raised two questions for me:

1. Were mousetraps of this kind actually in use in Japan for a time, such that Ryunosuke would have regarded them as so commonplace?

2. Why, in that case, is it not simply a ‘mousetrap’ but a ‘trap for catching mice’?

In this thesis, I have attempted to answer these two questions.

1. The History of Mousetraps

The game features a stylised, yet quite specific, model of a mousetrap, which the characters discuss:

It operates on what is known as a spring-loaded bar mechanism. It is highly recognisable, and there is a well-documented history of patents relating to it.

1. William C. Hooker (US), in 1894;

2. James Henry Atkinson (UK) patented the original model in 1898, and subsequently improved it in 1899;

3. John M. Mast (US) applied for a patent in 1899, and was granted it in 1903.

Since the events of TGAA:1-2 take place (according to the AA Wiki timeline) in Meiji 35, that is to say, in 1902, the third option is ruled out for chronological reasons. The remaining options are quite similar to one another, which is why I cannot say for certain which specific model is depicted in the game. However, if we consider the type of mousetrap that became widespread in Japan, both options are plausible. Historically, both the US and the UK interacted with Japan during that period (and England, moreover, directly, within the canon), and mousetraps themselves are a fairly simple product to transport, which is why, in theory, they could have been brought to and widely distributed in Japan (although the timing would have been slightly tighter for the English variant).

From this, it is impossible to say for certain which specific version it was, or exactly when it reached the Japanese market. The most important criterion here is that the mousetraps must have been in public view for long enough for Ryunosuke, who is not particularly knowledgeable about technology, to recognise them without difficulty.

As for the S.S. Burya, where this mousetrap is located, in the English version of the game, Strogenov says the following:

Hah! We are at sea for ONE YEAR! You want to be so long without close friend? Without someone who understands?!

Due to the somewhat clumsy sentence structure, the meaning here could be different: either Strogenov and Pirozhko HAVE ALREADY been at sea for a year, or it is customary on the steamship to work ‘shifts’ lasting a year, and Strogenov and Pirozhko are somewhere in the middle of this ‘shift’.

However, there is also another interpretation, one more closely based on the Japanese original, and as such, most likely the more accurate one. The same line, spoken by Strogenov in Japanese, goes like this:

フン！　オレたちはなァ。１年のほとんど、海の上なんだぜ？キモチの通いあう“トモダチ”がそばにいてほしいじゃねえか！

In the official localisation, the phrase ‘１年のほとんど’ was translated as ‘ONE YEAR’; however, despite the presence of the number ‘1’ in the text, the phrase ‘１年’ can also be translated as ‘the whole year’, whilst ‘ほとんど’ roughly translates as ‘almost’. This means that here, most likely, Strogenov wanted to say that ‘during any year they spend at sea almost all of it’ — and this could have been going on for more than just one year.

...All this is to say that we cannot say for certain when Strogenov brought Pirozhko on board—and, therefore, when he set the mousetraps to feed his pet. Whether Pirozhko is a snake or a lizard (I’ll save that for another inquiry) — his lifespan can start from 10 years with good care (if the internet is to be believed) — which means he could have come on board with Strogenov even before the classic design of mousetraps was created in 1894. In that case, Strogenov would simply have used traps of a different design, before switching to the ones we later saw in the game.

It is worth noting that the S.S. Burya canonically docks in England, meaning it would have been easiest for Strogenov to stock up on mousetraps there, starting from 1899. It is difficult to say whether the Burya sailed to America — after all, Nikolina was planning to flee there, and the crew intended to help her, but does that mean they would have taken her there on their own ship, or did they plan to transfer her to another one? If the first scenario is correct, then Strogenov could have been buying these mousetraps as early as 1894.

In summary: mousetraps of the type featured in the game first appeared in America as early as 1894, and have likely spread gradually across the world ever since. A second wave of popularity may have been triggered by the invention of a similar design as early as 1899 in England. Both these countries had trade links with Japan, which increased the likelihood, year by year, that Ryunosuke and Susato would see the imported invention in action, and become accustomed to its existence.

2. The Etymology of Mousetraps

…But in that case, why ‘trap for catching mice’ and not ‘mousetrap’.

Perhaps it’s just a quirk of the English translation? The localised version is a bit wordier than the Japanese original, so perhaps they decided to expand on the very short sentence ‘It’s a mousetrap’ a little?

No, in the Japanese version, Susato says exactly the same thing:

ネズミを捕獲するための『ワナ』でございますね。(Close to a literal translation: ‘It’s a “trap” for catching mice, isn’t it?’)

Does this sort of conversation happen just once? Perhaps it’s simply a quirk of that particular moment?

No, that’s not the case either — in TGAA:2-5, when Yujin Mikotoba is exploring the ship, he also refers to a ‘trap for catching mice’, rather than a ‘mousetrap’… at least in the Japanese version; it’s likely that the English localisation might have overlooked a similar moment in TGAA:1-2, and translated it slightly differently. But even in the English version, Mikotoba shows some uncertainty when referring to the device as a ‘mousetrap’.

A similar phrase in Japanese:

コイツは、ネズミをつかまえる“ワナ”ですね。(Roughly translated: ‘This is a “trap” for catching mice, isn’t it?’)

Okay... So does the word ‘mousetrap’ (or ‘ネズミとり’) actually appear in the text at all, apart from the English localisation in TGAA:2-5? It does – just once! In TGAA:1-2, when Ryunosuke is talking to Strogenov, he directly says ‘mousetrap’ (‘ネズミとり’ in the Japanese version).

The same phrase in Japanese:

船室のソトの廊下にある あの《ネズミとり》は‥‥

However, the Japanese word is set in quotation marks and written in kana (phonetic characters), not kanji (ideograms). Whilst quotation marks are frequently used in Japanese by AA's characters to highlight a word in speech in general, the simultaneous use of kana (in my experience and knowledge) is employed, for example, when a character asks for clarification of an unfamiliar word. In this way, the text may be signalling once again that the word ‘ネズミとり’ (‘mousetrap’) is not the most natural choice for the character’s speech.

So what’s going on? Is there any pattern or logic to all this? And can we draw any definite conclusions for the AA world?

Well.

The following information and conclusions should be taken with a pinch of salt: these are not definitive statements, but rather assumptions I have made based on the data I managed to find in a short space of time. I think they are interesting in the context of reflecting on a fictional world, but a more thorough investigation would surely find flaws in them. After all, I am not a Master’s graduate in Japanese, but simply a user with internet access.

An attempt to find the word ‘鼠取り’ (a variant spelling of ‘ネズミとり’/‘mousetrap’, which appears in the text of the TGAA) in 19th-century Japanese books yielded no results — the instances where a match was found turned out to be false positives. Nevertheless, this word began to appear in 20th-century books. Based on this observation, it would be logical to assume that the word ‘鼠取り’ did not really exist in the 19th century, but appeared in the 20th.

This may sound strange, as in English ‘mousetrap’ is such a simple and commonplace word that it has existed since time immemorial. Could it really be that the Japanese had no name for such devices in their language for so long? Or did they not have mousetraps themselves?

I do not have a clear answer to this question, but it prompted me to look up the word ‘mousetrap’ in a Japanese dictionary.

It turns out that there are at least five ways to say ‘mousetrap’ in Japanese.

Interesting.

Armed with this knowledge, you can explore a Japanese service that has scanned a vast number of books and magazines, dating back to the 1800s, and track how the frequency of use of different variants of the word ‘mousetrap’ has changed over time.

This produces an interesting graph:

Here, the blue line represents the variant of the word ‘mousetrap’ used both in the TGAA and currently on Wikipedia. As can be seen (if the image quality permits...), this variant was not widely used until 1922, after which its usage began to rise until it eclipsed the others sometime in the 1970s or 1980s.

However, for our purposes, this is too late. Moreover, we will be far more interested in the red line, which effectively dominated all other variants from the 1890s to the 1970s.

(For reference, green, brown, and purple represent the remaining names for mousetraps.)

All this seems interesting, but for our purposes it is better to focus on the period under study. Firstly, let us narrow the period under study to 1890–1905, and secondly, we will exclude books from our analysis, retaining only journals — if the language changed due to any external factors, it is precisely periodicals that would reflect this change more quickly than books, which take much longer to write.

This will produce the following graph:

It turns out that the red variant of the mousetrap’s name was not only the most common, but its usage also began to rise precisely between 1897 and 1900! This was exactly the period when one of the mousetrap models might have entered the Japanese market!

What conclusion can we draw at this stage? Given that for the red word there are only data points for 1897 and, immediately after that, a sharp spike in 1900, it can be assumed that, in 1899–1900, there was a sharp increase in the appearance of the word ‘mousetrap’ in newspapers, which may be linked to the product’s arrival on the market and its advertising — which, in turn, suggests that it was precisely then that mousetraps arrived in Japan. Given that the first model from the US had already been in existence for six years by that point, it would be strange for it to have entered the country so suddenly and abruptly. It is therefore more likely that the model that arrived in Japan was, in fact, the Atkinson model from England (with which Japan, in the TGAA universe, apparently had closer ties).

Consequently, based on all this information, we can say that it was the Atkinson model that became widespread in Japan from 1899–1900, which led to extensive coverage of them in the press and would have given Susato, Ryunosuke and Yujin two to three years to get used to them.

...

By the way, what is this ‘red word’? It refers to the word ‘mousetrap’, so why didn’t the characters use it for the spring-loaded mousetrap?

Well.

For one reason or another, the most common variant of the word ‘mousetrap’ has become ‘捕鼠器’. It consists of three kanji (meaningful characters), and if we break it down into its components, we get:

catch + mouse + vessel

Literally, a vessel for catching mice. A mouse-catching bottle.

A vessel. A container.

A box.

Not a planch.

I hope you see where I’m getting at.

The word 捕鼠器 existed even before English-style mousetraps became widespread in Japan, because mousetraps themselves existed before this particular model was imported from the West. However, if we are to believe the etymology, this particular word referred to a box-shaped device that trapped mice inside — just one of many types of mouse traps.

Why this particular word came to be used, when other, more general terms existed, is something I dare not speculate on. Nevertheless, this is what happened (according to my assumption, which may be mistaken), and flat boards with a spring mechanism began to be referred to in advertising leaflets as ‘vessels for catching mice’. Perhaps the word itself was more familiar to the average person...

Yet a slight dissonance arose between the literal meaning of the word and what it came to denote. Perhaps to ordinary Japanese people this did not seem strange, and they used it out of habit. But what if those who had closer contact with English and knew that these things were called ‘mousetraps’ abroad subconsciously wondered why, in our language, it was a ‘vessel’ rather than a ‘trap’ in the general sense? And what if such people avoided saying ‘a mice-catching bottle’ directly in Japanese, resorting to a slightly longer but correct name, whilst in English they used ‘mousetrap’ without hesitation?

...What if we were to include Mikotobu and Ryunosuke Naruhodo’s family among such people?

Perhaps that is indeed the case.

Summing Up

To sum up

It turns out

In my opinion

In the context of the TGAA

It is possible that cage traps were historically more widespread in Japan, for which there was a specific term: 捕鼠器 (something like ‘mouse-trapping bottle’ or simply ‘mousebottle’). By 1900, spring-loaded mousetraps had been imported from England, and since the Japanese language already had a sort of historical name for them, they used ‘mousebottle’ when describing this mousetrap. However, obviously, a small board is not a vessel, and so the name sounded strange in relation to this design. No doubt other names were used for the trap, but they didn’t catch on (much like if, for some reason, ‘mousetrap’ were unsuitable, they would have sought alternatives, such as ‘mouse-catcher’, ‘mouse-trap’, ‘mouse-getter’, and so on, which convey the essence but are somehow not quite right).

Thus, since mousetraps were imported sometime around 1899/1900, Ryunosuke and Susato had had time to see plenty of them by 1901–1902, when they set sail; at the same time, since the existing term ‘mousebottle’ did not quite fit this contraption, they merely described what it was in their speech, to avoid confusion with their Japanese ‘mousebottle’. When Ryunosuke, later in the story, spoke to Strogenov using English, he calmly used the centuries-old term ‘mousetrap’. And Mikotoba Yujin, in the second game, finding himself in the same linguistic situation as Ryunosuke and Susato, thinks not of a ‘mousetrap’ or a ‘mousebottle’, but rather, ‘yes, that new contraption which has become widespread in Japan, but for which no proper name has yet been devised’.

TL;DR for fanfiction writers

In 1899/1900, a spring-loaded English mousetrap was introduced to Japan, where it became extremely popular.

Ordinary Japanese people refer to it as a ‘mousebottle’ (or another variant combining the meanings of ‘catch’, ‘mouse’ and ‘vessel’), just as they do with their own traditional cage traps.

Characters who are pedantic about language (i.e. for example, those who know English, such as Ryunosuke, Susato, and Yujin, as well as, in theory, those who might fight for the purity of the Japanese language) prefer to use the more elaborate term ‘trap for catching mice’ when referring to this device in Japanese; whereas in English, they have no problem at all saying ‘mousetrap’.

I rest my case.

Sincerely,

The Ultimate Nitpicker

[ace-attorney-characters-analysis]

Paul Uhlenhuth mentioned in TGAA

Paul Theodor Uhlenhuth (7 January 1870 in Hanover – 13 December 1957 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German bacteriologist and immunologist, and Professor at the University of Strasbourg (1911–1918), at the University of Marburg (1918–1923) and at the University of Freiburg (1923–1936). He is famous in the annals of forensic science for developing the species precipitin test, known as the Uhlenhuth test, which could distinguish human blood from animal blood in 1901, a discovery which had tremendous importance in criminal justice in the 20th century.

The test was first used in real life in July–August 1901 and became an official method in Prussian judicial practice on September 8, 1903. McGilded's trial took place on February 18, and Gina Lestrade's trial took place on April 17 of Meiji 35, which translates to 1902. Perhaps because the test had not yet been officially approved in courts, it was not known outside Germany. Between the two trials, Barok van Ziks may have mentioned the problem to Albert Harebrine (in correspondence?). Harebrine then told van Ziks about the new test, which allowed van Ziks to mention it the next time the situation arose.

But, of couurse, it could also be that Albert Harebrayne (who is British but moved to Germany after graduation) invented it cause.

Just because

[absolxguardian]

So the reason why Americans associate fortune cookies with Chinese (-American) restaurants despite it being an invention of Japanese immigrants is because when all the Japanese living in America were put in concentration/internment camps during WW2, Chinese restaurants moved into their niche and sometimes their actual businesses.

Now in the AAverse, the sycrentizism of Japanese and Californian culture, as well as the continued existence of more monocultural and traditional Japanese communities (like Nine-Tales Vale) means that for whatever reason there couldn't have been an Executive Order 9066.

Ergo fortune cookies are associated with Japanese (-American) food in the AAverse, and probably more broadly with California in other states.

[smosh-stuff]

Apocalypse AU - Weapons and Combat

WOW ANOTHER WORLDBUILDING POST WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED

I was thinking abt how people would fight and shit so! Here we go lads, have a.... post? Micro-essay? Whatever

Say No to Guns

Something I feel the need to establish- there are actually no guns in No Man’s Land! Well, I guess they still exist technically, but nobody uses them. Why, you ask? Because it’s been 40 years since the apocalypse, who the Fuck is making bullets and gun powder,

Actually though, some people may have scrapped together crude guns and ammo? But it’s not at all common. Society is bouncing back, but we’re not close enough to another industrial age for that shit

Weaponry

So, what weapons do people actually use?

Obviously, traditional melee weapons are a popular choice. Metal implements- like proper crowbars, hammers, etc.- may be harder to come by, since those only last so long with factors like usage and rust. But they’re not unheard of. More commonly, you’ll see people with homemade weapons, usually something wood-based. Bats are simple enough to make and can do a lot of damage if you know how to use them. Same with things like pole staffs, clubs, and homemade hammers and axes. Mutt bones can be big and sturdy enough that if someone’s a real edgelord, they can make weapons out of those too.

While guns aren’t a thing, other forms of projectiles are. Bows and arrows are obviously a classic. Crossbows are easier to make than guns but somewhat less common than easier to make and carry weapons. Slingshots are pretty useful for hunting, but they’re less popular since they’re pretty pointless in a proper fight with a person or mutt.

When it comes to blades, you’re not likely to find people carrying proper swords around. They’re tough to upkeep in the conditions of the wasteland, take a while to learn how to use, and depending on what your enemy has to fight, can end up being useless in certain circumstances. On the other hand, things like machetes, hunting knives, and all the sorts of smaller utility knives are pretty common. They’re multipurpose and good for self-defense if you can figure out how to use them without hurting yourself.

Combat

While most people will carry around a melee weapon or two, there is no shortage of people who will defend themselves primarily without one. These people rely instead on their abilities and Guards.

Obviously, there are those with primarily offensive abilities- maybe they can materialize flying projectiles, send out shockwaves, something like that. Those people are likely to rely on the raw power of their abilities. And others can find creative ways to use their abilities in combat. Say someone can control minerals and earth with their mind- they may develop a style of fighting with that power (like some earth bending shit), and someone who can alter area temperatures may send out blasts of heat or cold. 

There’s also the option of fighting specifically with your Guard and the energy you share. This is less common because, in order to tap into that power and fight effectively with your Guard, you need to establish a very deep connection with them. It takes a lot of time and effort. Fighting with your Guard is a very free-form process. The energy is mostly formless, so you can project it or materialize it however you want. You may send out your Guard to fight for you, or maybe just spend half of your focus on having it fight with you while you use the rest to materialize a force or weapon to fight with (if you can multitask that well). While it’s the most difficult form of combat to learn, it also has the most potential. 

[smosh-stuff]

Apocalypse AU - Guards

BEEP BOOP MORE SHIT

Let’s talk about the most complicated part of this universe that I made complicated for no fuckin reason

What the FUCK are you talking about

So!!! What the hell is a Guard, let’s unpack that,

It’s kinda hard to explain but, in essence, a Guard is a source of energy that’s half-fused with its host. So it’s half a part of that person, and half its own thing. That half that’s separate is also kind of sentient, but no one is really sure what the extent of that is. That part with a mind is what extends outwards and has its own will, and the part that materializes when it takes a physical form.

Think of it like a sort of mind-meld. Having a Guard is like sharing your body with a second brain, except it’s content to just live in the background of the rest of you. Its only goal is to protect its host, so it usually only acts on its own volition when its host is in danger. 

How does it work?

So, there are a few things to go over in terms of actual mechanics.

FORMS - Guard forms!!! So, this is basically the shape a Guard will take by default when it manifests physically. 

It manifests by using concentrating its energy outside the host body into a physical shape. 

A Guard doesn’t manifest too often- usually only if it needs to fight with/for its host or if the host wants it to manifest for whatever reason.

What forms can a Guard take, you ask??? The short answer is- whatever the fuck you want!!! Using animals is overdone and also kind of racist as I understand it (bc of the whole spirit animal thing) and also Boring to me!!! So instead, almost every Guard you’ll see will be some kind of mythical beast or creature (Griffins, minotaurs, basilisks, etc.)

COMMUNICATION - Just bc you share a body with your Guard doesn’t mean you got an instant friend for life!! Just like any good relationship, it gets stronger the more you communicate with it.

There’s no real guide to communicating with your Guard, but generally, it’s just a lot of practice. The easiest way to do it is a process very similar to meditation- focusing yourself, and sort of just letting yourself exist in the same mental space as your Guard.

It’s a very non-direct form of communication. It’s not like you sit there and talk to it. Communicating with your Guard is a very intimate experience, of connecting your mind and emotions, and understanding each other.

The more you communicate with your Guard, the stronger your bond with them will be. This dictates a lot of things. 

A Guard with a strong bond to its host is more likely to exert free will, will more freely use its power in different ways, and may even reach out to communicate first. The stronger your bond with your Guard, the better you’ll be able to command it as well.

ABILITIES - As you know, the Guard lends its host their own ability, but it also has its own powers!

As stated before, the Guard can manifest itself physically. Those who fight mostly with their Guard will usually do it through a sort of mind-meld with their Guard’s form. It uses the energy that makes up its form to deliver extra force with its blows. The combat style is determined by the form it takes- for example, a Guard in the form of a valkyrie would fight with the weapon it materializes in, while a Guard in the form of a hydra will bite and use its tail.

The Guard lends its energy to its host through their ability. If a host is using their Guard ability, that energy is being taken through the Guard themselves. A Guard may not be able to manifest while the ability is being used due to the amount of power being taken- on the other hand, a Guard may manifest itself if a lot of energy is exerted at once, simply as a byproduct of the exertion.

No one is quite sure the extent of a Guard’s power or the limit of their abilities. There’s no telling what they can or can’t do. Some will spend their lives building communication just to see how far that power can reach.

Wait wait wait go back to that ability thing

While we’re here, let’s also go over Guard abilities

SO, Guard abilities are the powers that each host gets from their Guard. There’s no real determining factor for what your ability can be. The ability usually presents itself early on in childhood, though it’s not unheard of for more subtle powers to stay unrevealed until adolescent or even adult years. 

Powers can range from dangerous and flashy to extremely subtle. Some use their powers constantly, while others couldn’t care less.

Using your Guard ability draws from the same source of energy that is your Guard itself. This is not a finite resource, but it is limited and will need to regenerate if used excessively. Constant overuse of Guard energy will begin to drain the physical energy of the host and may cause damage.

Generally, the stronger your bond with your Guard, the more control and freedom you’ll have in relation to your ability.

I think that’s it for now??? If anything is confusing or I forgot to go over something shoot me an ask and lmk!!! I’m happy to answer any questions