#jinxed analysis

[jynxedshapeshifter]

so apollo's dynamic with klavier is interesting

Hello and welcome to the Klapollo essay I said I was going to write. I mostly decided to write this because I think it's interesting that Apollo goes from "I have to pull that darkness out of him!" in Turnabout Succession to "oh god not him again" in Turnabout Academy, and I wanted to make a post analyzing why (but also I find it weird every time I see someone say Apollo hates Klavier, which doesn't happen often to be fair but is still a bit weird to me because Apollo canonically doesn't hate Klavier. Neither does Ema for that matter, at least in my opinion, but that's a post for a different time).

Part 1: Apollo Has Never Hated Klavier

First things first, Apollo has never canonically hated Klavier. At worst he finds him annoying. The first interaction they have after Klavier has the officer in front of People Park let Apollo and Trucy investigate is during the first day of Wocky's trial, where a lot of Apollo's interactions with Klavier are either annoyed, confused, or both. It's also made clear during the first day of Wocky's trial that Apollo finds Klavier attractive to some degree, as this is where we get the "I'll wipe that smirk off your pretty face, Gavin!" line. Notably, he never really genuinely shows disdain towards him, just annoyance. Like that's literally the worst we see his opinion of Klavier get. Apollo is vocal when he doesn't like something, we would know if he actually didn't like Klavier. From the start most of his comments on Klavier amount to "what the fuck is his deal" or subtle implications that he doesn't realize he's attracted to Klavier in some way which. Relatable.

Anyway, with that out of the way, I would like to talk about every interaction they've had whether it's canon or not.

Part 2: I don't know what to call this section

When I say I want to talk about every interaction Apollo and Klavier have ever had, I very much mean every interaction (although not necessarily in-depth). Whether that be how they interact during Wocky's trial or how they interact during the Gavinners Reunion tour CD drama, I will be analyzing all of it because this is my blog and I do what I want.

Part 2.1: Turnabout Corner

First things first, Klavier's first interaction with Apollo and Trucy. Klavier teases Apollo for staring, Apollo is still a bit confused because Klavier looks like Kristoph, and then Klavier very specifically turns his attention to Trucy, and this is what finally knocks Apollo out of his confused daze (which is really funny. Apollo basically got annoyed by Klavier ignoring him).

Important thing to note here: in at least the first part of Turnabout Corner's trial, Guilty Love is diegetic, which basically means it doesn't just exist as background music for us, the players, but it also exists in universe as Klavier's accompaniment when he's in court.

During the first part of Wocky's trial, which is when Apollo is first able to actually get a proper impression of how Klavier is, this exchange happens:

Klavier: Achtung, baby! Today we play it my way! Apollo: (What's that… noise?) Klavier: Sometimes you have to get on up in order to get down... to prosecuting! Apollo: (This is crazy…)

At this point in the game, Apollo just seems a bit exasperated by Klavier's antics. Like his reaction is basically "I'm the only normal person in this courtroom." A few lines after this, Apollo (internally) asks Klavier if he can speak without the accompaniment. Apollo's exasperation towards Klavier continues throughout the trial. He gets annoyed, he gets irritated, but he never actually gets angry with Klavier. You could argue he gets angry with Klavier when Klavier says "At least one person on the defense team seems to be thinking" but you could just as easily argue he's being defensive. Something also worth noting here is that that line of Klavier's is what triggers him to think "Grr... I'll wipe that smile off your pretty face, Gavin!" which also, notably, is the first indication we get that Apollo finds Klavier attractive.

Apollo continues to, throughout the game, make comments implying he finds Klavier annoying because of how he presents himself (in Turnabout Corner, for example, he says he wishes Klavier would stop being so cool, which seems to be similar to Ema's general attitude toward Klavier but that's for another post). Some more things of note in Turnabout Corner:

Klavier continues to tease Apollo throughout the trial, which mainly flusters Apollo instead of making him actually upset or anything.

When Klavier meets Apollo and Trucy outside People Park the second time, the first thing he does is have Apollo wave at his fans, once again flustering him (but notably not making him annoyed or anything, just confused and flustered). After this, he slips some pretty important information regarding the case to Apollo and Trucy.

Klavier helps Trucy and Apollo throughout the trial as much as he can. A lot of it comes off as him being a dick but he is genuinely helping Trucy and Apollo.

So to summarize: Apollo's attraction to Klavier is implied as early as the first trial day for Wocky's trial, and Apollo is, at worst, irritated by Klavier's antics.

Part 2.2: Turnabout Serenade

Apollo tending to be more annoyed than anything else with Klavier's antics continues in Turnabout Serenade. Apollo reacts worst to Klavier, in his eyes, not taking LeTouse's murder seriously. When Klavier asks him what crime he's referring to (the multiple thefts Klavier's a victim of or the murder) Apollo goes "The murder, what else?!" which is the most annoyed he gets with Klavier specifically in Turnabout Serenade. Apollo actually spends decent chunk of Turnabout Serenade sassing the hell out of Klavier.

Apollo also mentions that Klavier is "cool" in Turnabout Serenade which is something he's jealous about, and immediately tells himself he'll never admit it to Trucy. Here's the specific bit of dialogue:

(To be honest… …he was kind of cool. And I'm kind of envious. Not that I'd ever admit that to Trucy.)

Apollo continues to be jealous of Klavier multiple times after this in optional dialogue by the way.

When you present Apollo's badge to Klavier after The Guitar's Serenade portion of the concert:

Klavier: ...... Herr Forehead. Apollo: Y-Yeah? Klavier: Understand that I am not Prosecutor Gavin now. I am lead vocal of the Gavinners. That badge sings a different song… on a different stage. Apollo: Right… (I wish I had an alter-ego to hide behind sometimes.)

When you present the lyrics sheet for The Guitar's Serenade to Klavier:

Klavier: I wrote those lyrics, you know. Though it was Lamiroir who gave them life. Trucy: Wow… That's beautiful! Apollo: (Grr. Maybe I should try to write some lyrics someday.)

When Klavier gives Trucy and Apollo the aforementioned lyrics sheet:

Apollo: What's this…? Klavier: A lyrics sheet. It's yours. Signed by myself and Lamiroir. Trucy: Yippee! Thanks so much! Apollo: (All I ever get to sign are client defense agreements.)

Onto the trial itself, Apollo sasses Klavier a lot. Not even teases him, he just straight up bullies him. The instance of this that immediately comes to mind is when Klavier's talking about Daryan and Apollo says "That's nice, but it has nothing to do with the matter at hand." but he has a few other instances of just being a bit mean toward Klavier too (keep in mind that this very much feels closer to Apollo giving Klavier a taste of his own medicine than any actual malice or anything). Notably Klavier's still a bit of a bitch about how Apollo makes his case in Turnabout Serenade, but he's still willing to help him get to the truth of a situation if needed (as seen when you talk to him in his office).

Part 2.3: Turnabout Succession

Unlike in Turnabout Corner and Turnabout Serenade, Klavier isn't seen in Turnabout Succession until Vera's trial starts. The trial goes perfectly fine until the Gramarye commemorative stamp comes up as evidence, at which point not only is Klavier on the verge of snapping, but Apollo is concerned about him, and this concern stays into the next trial day, where Klavier's fawning aggressively in response to Kristoph. Trucy and Apollo both get really concerned about Klavier at this point. Let's also not forget that Apollo mentions that Klavier looks like he's in physical pain and immediately follows it up with "That darkness… …I have to pull that darkness out of him…" and by that point his goal isn't just securing a not guilty verdict for Vera, but also in some way helping Klavier break free from Kristoph's control.

This isn't subtext or an assumption on my end, Apollo is literally why Klavier broke free from Kristoph's control. Had Apollo not been the defense attorney on Vera's case, I don't think Klavier would've ever broken out of Kristoph's control honestly. Klavier's "Let's clean out the family closet, eh, Kristoph?" comes after Apollo's comment on pulling the darkness out of Klavier. It's Apollo proving Drew's link to Kristoph that breaks Klavier free of Kristoph's control (as Klavier very specifically says "Just… prove it! Clear up these doubts now, or I swear, I'm off this case!" There's something poetic about two of the victims of Kristoph's emotional manipulation coming together to make sure he's found out for murder and attempted murder.

Anyway, Apollo shows so much concern for Klavier in Turnabout Succession and I don't think he would if he didn't care a lot about him, and we know Apollo has a tendency to care about people even if he just met them or doesn't know them all that well based on his interactions with Vera, Trucy, Wocky, Machi, Juniper, and Rayfa (and probably others that I can't think of off the top of my head). Like Apollo cares so much about other people and I feel like it isn't really acknowledged a lot.

Part 2.4: Turnabout Academy/The Magical Turnabout

Turnabout Academy is the reason I wanted to analyze Apollo and Klavier's dynamic in the first place honestly. The reason is because Apollo's behavior around him going from quite concerned to annoyed between Turnabout Succession and Turnabout Serenade.

Apollo and Klavier's dynamic in Turnabout Academy is incredibly similar to their dynamic in Turnabout Serenade. The primary differences are that Klavier's a bit more mean and we're not seeing Apollo's attitude toward Klavier from his perspective. We're instead seeing it from Athena's perspective. We can also assume that Turnabout Academy is where Athena first noticed that Apollo gets prickly any time the topic of Klavier is brought up, because Turnabout Academy takes place around 6 months before The Magical Turnabout and The Magical Turnabout is where Athena mentions Apollo getting prickly any time the topic of Klavier comes up (and she specifically notes that she's noticed that "for a while").

Klavier's really funny in Turnabout Academy though because he focuses so much of his attention on Apollo specifically which means Athena's third-wheeling Klapollo for a fair amount of the investigation. I also acknowledge that I might be the only one who got that vibe from Turnabout Academy but for me that vibe absolutely exists.

Additionally, let's go over the exchange about the roses Klavier sent Trucy again.

Athena: Oh, these are from Prosecuter Gavin. Apollo: Roses, huh? How like him: pretentious. Athena: They might be pretentious, but you know what? He makes it work! Apollo: Hmph. Athena: Apollo, I've noticed this for a while, but… …you get awfully prickly when it comes to Prosecutor Gavin. Apollo: Y-You think so? Athena: I mean, don't hate him just because he's beautiful. Apollo: Th-That's not it at all!

I'm not just mentioning this because it's funny. Even assuming Athena did catch on to how annoyed Apollo gets about Klavier existing immediately in Turnabout Academy (which is likely considering her whole gimmick), this implies the topic of Klavier is regularly brought up around the Wright Anything Agency. Unless Apollo and Klavier regularly faced off in court between Turnabout Academy and The Magical Turnabout, there is no reason for this implication to exist. It makes me wonder who's bringing up Klavier and why. Does Klavier just show up at the WAA on a regular basis to fuck with Apollo? Do Phoenix, Trucy, and Athena regularly invite him over because Apollo's reactions are funny? Why has the topic of Klavier come up when Athena's around enough for Athena to notice that Apollo gets prickly when it comes to Klavier, let alone enough for her to assume the reason for it is because Klavier's attractive? What goes on at the Wright Anything Agency off-screen lol

Part 2.5: The Gavinners Reunion Tour CD Drama

(This isn't important and I'm not arguing its canonicity, I just think it's cute and want to talk about it. You can find the audio with English subtitles here)

The Gavinners Reunion Tour CD drama is genuinely one of my favorite non-game pieces of Ace Attorney media. I'm so emotionally attached to it. Before I go into the Klavier and Apollo parts of it, I need to mention that Phoenix invited Ema and Apollo to Klavier's revival concert thinking they'd be excited for it. Idk, it's really funny to me. Also, Klavier gave Apollo and Trucy a bigger discount on tickets than he gave Phoenix. I think Klavier has favorites lol

I also need to point out that Klavier completely ignores Ema and Phoenix when he mentions how good the concert's gonna be. He specifically mentions Apollo when he mentions how good the concert's gonna be. Apollo is also the one to suggest that he, Phoenix, and Ema go with Klavier's manager to get his drugs candy before he goes on stage. Now, to be fair, that could absolutely be more over concern for Klavier's manager than Klavier but Apollo was still the one to suggest it. Apollo is also the one who encourages Klavier's manager to keep looking for the aforementioned candy.

Anyway near the end Klavier invites Apollo to sing an acoustic duet of Guilty Love. It's adorable and I love it. Right before that Apollo mentions actually enjoying the concert (Apollo tells Ema this is specifically because he's faced off against Klavier so many times in court that his music feels similar to facing him in court which implies he'll only ever enjoy rock music if it's Klavier's. gay) and Klavier says "Even I never managed to imagine I'd be able to win your heart!"

Anyway go listen to the Gavinners Reunion Tour CD drama, it's absolutely wonderful.

Part 3: Conclusions or Something

I don't know what I'm concluding here. The last half of this was written over a month after the first half so I don't even really remember where I was going with this but basically, Apollo doesn't hate Klavier. He doesn't even see Klavier as a rival:

Athena: Look! There's your rival over there, Apollo! Apollo: Who, Prosecutor Gavin? We've battled it out a few times before, but I wouldn't call him-- Athena: No, not him. I meant that speaker over there! It can output massive blasts of sound that rival your Chords of Steel! Apollo: I have better things to do than compete with a speaker, so just forget it. - Dual Destinies, Turnabout Academy

Apollo even extends the "I can, will, and do worry about anyone and everyone I come across whether I know them well or not, with the exception of if they're a horrible person" attitude he has toward Klavier. He cares a lot about Klavier. That's canon. He cares about Klavier to the same (or at least a similar) degree that he cares about Trucy, Vera, Juniper, and even Wocky and Machi. He doesn't extend that to people he doesn't like. He finds Wocky annoying, but he doesn't seem to really dislike him. He gets frustrated with Machi, but he doesn't dislike him. Apollo cares so much about everyone who crosses his path who is worth his time and Klavier isn't an exception to this. The only time it's obvious is in Turnabout Succession, but that's because that's where Klavier is at his most vulnerable and we're playing as Apollo.

Additionally, we know based on AA4 that Apollo prefers to keep his feelings about Klavier as a whole to himself, and masks them by acting standoffish, which is why he comes off as prickly to other people. This is why Turnabout Academy is so interesting to me in terms of how Klavier and Apollo's dynamic is written. It's the first time we're viewing their dynamic as an outsider and not as Apollo. I'm quite sure that Apollo was worried about Klavier. Klavier's mentor had just been murdered, after all. Apollo was concerned when Klavier was in the same courtroom as Kristoph, it'd frankly be out of character for Apollo not to worry about Klavier in Turnabout Academy. Apollo just has a tendency to mask his feelings regarding Klavier, so it's not obvious to an outsider that he's worried (and I'm quite sure this was the case for Trucy in Turnabout Succession too. I don't think she realized just how worried about Klavier Apollo was for a bit because so much of Apollo's concern is made obvious to the player through his thoughts).

Anyway, TL;DR: Apollo cares so much about everyone he surrounds himself with (including his clients) and Klavier's not an exception to that. Apollo doesn't hate Klavier, he doesn't even see Klavier as a rival. At worst, Apollo finds Klavier a bit annoying at times. Saying Apollo is bitter or disdainful toward Klavier is an objectively wrong reading of their dynamic. Whether you ship them or not, Apollo does care a lot about Klavier. It's an incredibly important part of Turnabout Succession and saying or acting like Apollo doesn't care about Klavier to the same degree he cares about Trucy or Vera or Lamiroir or Juniper is just ignoring canon. Apollo has so much love and care in his heart and whether romantically or platonically he extends that love and care to Klavier too.

[jinxed-sinner]

So obviously Loser, Baby was a turning point for how Angel sees himself and his relationships but I don't see enough people talking about how Loser, Baby impacted Husk?

One of his lines in Loser, Baby is "It's time to lose your self-loathing, excuse yourself let hope in" and Loser, Baby isn't just a song to build up Angel and get him to be himself. Husk isn't referring to just Angel there, he's very much referring to himself too. Before Loser, Baby he was so intent on being apathetic to everything and pushing this persona of "I don't care about anything but myself"; Husk isn't the only one who was putting on a front and pretending to be something he's not. He doesn't actually laugh until the end of Masquerade, that I remember.

He wasn't referring to just Angel during Loser, Baby. He was also referring to himself. That's the entire point of Loser, Baby; Husk is essentially in the same place as Angel, but they are in that place together. Angel and Husk both open up at the same time. They're developing alongside each other.

I think we should discuss it more because it adds a layer of depth to Husk and Angel's relationship that isn't talked about. It's not just Angel who's more "himself" after Loser, Baby; Husk is too. He's more open to joking around and doesn't put up a front of apathy anymore, and I think it's one of the reasons Huskerdust works so well; they bring out the most honest parts of each other (which wouldn't have happened without Loser, Baby or a similar story beat).

[jinxed-ninjago]

Honestly, I love The Call of Home. We have someone who's been merged with the sea for millenia and someone who's been merged with the sea for a year, and the differences are so interesting to me. Nyad just exists; her morals are weird and amount to "nature is nature, and we can't do anything to change that" because she's lost herself. When Nya explains why she saved the sailor, her response is "That's just how things are, there isn't any right or wrong." Nya doesn't remember who she is, but she's retained her morals, and when Nyad asks about it, Nya's response is "Because it was the right thing to do." Nya's memory is at least partially intact, Nyad's isn't.

It creates a really interesting dynamic where we're shown what will happen to Nya if she stays merged with the sea. The entire conversation between Nyad and Nya is fascinating to me. It also makes me wonder how long Nya would've had to be merged with the sea to completely lose herself like Nyad did. After a year Nya still has her morals and a fundamental understanding that her morals are who she is, but she can't really identify who she is because her memory is intact, but not completely.

I don't think this dynamic between Nya and Nyad was done by accident either. I very much think it was done on purpose to show the consequences of what can happen after someone merges with the sea and basically tell us, the viewers, that if Nya stays merged with the sea, this is what will happen to her, and there's a high chance that it'll be too late to save her from that. Since her memories are at least partially intact, it's not too late yet. She still has time to be saved. For Nyad it's too late; not just does she have no sense of self besides that she's merged with the sea, but there's nobody around to bring her memory back like Nya has.

It's really interesting and I'm surprised I haven't seen it discussed at all.

[jynxedshapeshifter]

A Thorough Analysis of Nahyuta Sahdmadhi's Self-Sacrificial Behavior

So something I haven't really mentioned here (because I thought it'd be rude and passive-aggressive) is that a lot of people seem to misinterpret and/or misunderstand Nahyuta as a character. In addition to this, a lot of people seem to just ignore crucial plot points that specifically apply to Nahyuta and it's weird.

Part 1: A Summary of Nahyuta's Story

Thought I'd start by summarizing Nahyuta's story because I think it's important that I do. I'll try to keep this shorter than I kept the Klavier personality summary lol. To do that I'll only mention things that are relevant in the context of Nahyuta's arc in Spirit of Justice.

First and foremost, both Apollo and Nahyuta wanted to help further Dhurke's goal of a revolution in Khura'in. This is mentioned to be why Nahyuta became a prosecutor; he wanted to further the revolution from the inside of Ga'ran's regime. He didn't get very far because Ga'ran started blackmailing him with Rayfa and Amara's safety probably the millisecond she realized what he was doing. Ga'ran then proceeded to blackmail Nahyuta for five whole years. Ga'ran's treatment of Nahyuta basically caused Nahyuta to give up because it was either keep resisting and get Rayfa's identity as Dhurke's daughter exposed, which would result in Rayfa losing her status as princess and High Priestess, or comply and protect his family. It's because of Apollo he regains his will to fight Ga'ran. It's because of Apollo that he stands on the side of the Defiant Dragons again.

The thing that's especially heartbreaking about how Ga'ran went about blackmailing Nahyuta is that, in situations where he very likely otherwise wouldn't if he wasn't being blackmailed, he used Khura'inism as a weapon. Remember, he was probably being blackmailed for all or most of his career as a prosecutor. He'd basically decided to give up his morals to protect his mother and sister, and, eventually, Apollo (at least, I would say that was part of the reason for his false confession in Turnabout Revolution). Ga'ran essentially used Khura'inism as a way to control others, especially Nahyuta.

Also important to mention is that Ga'ran was actively concealing things regarding Amara's "assassination" from Nahyuta, very likely as a way to continue manipulating him. Only when he learns that Ga'ran was concealing the truth behind Amara's "assassination" does he start actively defying Ga'ran. It is at that point that Nahyuta does a 180. It is at that point he realizes Ga'ran committed treason (Nahyuta does yield to Ga'ran after this, but it's because he's trying to prevent Apollo from being executed on the spot).

Part 2: An In-Depth Explanation of Nahyuta's Arc

Two things are crucial to Nahyuta's arc and its resolution: Ga'ran blackmailing him, and him basically giving up because Ga'ran was blackmailing him. Nahyuta never lost his morality. He lost his drive to live up to those morals. Apollo and Dhurke both realize there's something off about Nahyuta's behavior. Dhurke even mentions that he thinks Nahyuta still believes in what Dhurke taught him and Apollo. Nahyuta's morals stayed intact even when he wasn't living up to them, and I think it adds to how oppressive Ga'ran is. She is such an effective blackmailer that she managed to get her nephew, Dhurke's son, to give up. Nahyuta was never really loyal to her; he was loyal to Rayfa and Amara, to the point he'd give his life for them.

He's so protective of anyone he considers family, and Ga'ran took advantage of that. We can even see it in action during Turnabout Revolution's second trial twice, including after he defies Ga'ran.

The first time is when he gives his false confession to Inga's murder. Apollo explicitly asks him what Ga'ran did to coerce a confession out of him. I think it's a toss-up whether Apollo or Amara was used against him, considering she refers to Nahyuta as Apollo's "dear brother" earlier in the trial and Nahyuta's false confession comes immediately following a recess because Amara was shot before she could tell the court who actually murdered Inga, but I very much think one or both of them got used against Nahyuta.

The second time is when Apollo and Phoenix are about to be executed (which I hope to god Trucy wasn't present for but I digress). Right before having guns trained on them, Nahyuta tells Apollo "We cannot yield to her here, Apollo. If… If it will move the revolution forward… …I will gladly face the DC Act! Now, do it! Accuse Queen Ga'ran of the crime she has committed!" This is important because it's immediately following this that Ga'ran orders the executions of Phoenix and Apollo. Nahyuta's response to seeing Apollo with guns trained on him? "P-Please, Apollo… Do not make this any worse than it already is… I cannot lose you to the Twilight Realm, too…"

Nahyuta is fiercely loyal to people he sees as family and Ga'ran used it against him for five years. I fucking hate Ga'ran.

Anyway, all of this factors into why Nahyuta did a 180 so fast. He was being blackmailed with his family's safety by Ga'ran, resulting in him just giving up, but he never lost his morals, which very likely made it easier for him to turn on Ga'ran. Additionally, Ga'ran kept crucial information about Amara's "assassination" from him, very likely to make him easier to manipulate, which was the nail in the coffin for his "loyalty" to Ga'ran. I'd be surprised if he doesn't feel an immense amount of guilt over it. It's made clear that his morals are still intact by his quoting of Dhurke's mantra — "A dragon never yields." Nahyuta didn't submit to Ga'ran because he wanted to. He did it because his family's lives were at stake. Once Dhurke was exonerated, Ga'ran's threats didn't matter anymore, at least not until Ga'ran directly threatened Apollo's life.

Nahyuta's loyalty being so strong that it makes him easy to manipulate is a part of Nahyuta's character that I think is underappreciated. He was willing to risk everything for Amara, Rayfa, and Apollo. He didn't care if he died in the process as long as they were safe. It's crucial to his arc. His arc would've been completely different if he wasn't so loyal that he was willing to die if it meant Apollo was able to keep living. Nahyuta is self-sacrificial to the same extents as Gregory, Mia, and Simon were.

His arc isn't exactly about overcoming that, and I honestly think that's a good thing. His arc is about breaking free of that being used against him. What breaks him free from that? Learning the truth about what happened to Amara and Apollo's drive to save Nahyuta from Ga'ran and live up to Dhurke's creed.

So, to summarize, things Nahyuta's arc is:

A journey of breaking free from someone else's control

A story about someone who gave up because not doing so put their family in danger

Things Nahyuta's arc is not:

A story about someone who was brainwashed into giving up on their goals (if he was brainwashed, he wouldn't have done a 180 so quickly. There's a difference between being blackmailed and being brainwashed)

A story about someone who chose to abandon their morals (Nahyuta never abandoned his morals and he never chose to live by "Let it go, and move on." He was forced to because he was being blackmailed by Ga'ran and had to give up because not doing so put his family and possibly even himself in danger)

Part 3: Conclusion

If it wasn't already obvious, I don't think Nahyuta was poorly written. He was doing what he had to do to keep his family safe. That's made explicitly clear within Spirit of Justice. It's not an assumption on my part. You look at his actions in context and it's obvious that giving up was, in his mind, the best way to protect Amara and Rayfa, and eventually Apollo. I can't blame him either; he was being blackmailed by his queen. There is absolutely no way he had another option. If he thought defying Ga'ran would put Rayfa, Amara, or Apollo's lives at risk during Turnabout Revolution, he wouldn't have defied Ga'ran, but he does and he immediately goes back on it because it put Apollo's life in danger. He was very deliberately written like that and his entire arc revolves around it, but I don't really see much discussion around it. It's so weird to me because like. That's the whole reason he is how he is during literally all of Spirit of Justice???? This crucial part of Nahyuta's behavior and personality feels like it's completely ignored. Do people talk about it and I'm just hanging out in the wrong part of the Ace Attorney fandom?

Anyway, put more respect on Nahyuta Sahdmadhi's name pls

[jynxedshapeshifter]

this might sound really really weird but dual destinies' cross examination theme only works in dual destinies.

"but that's the case with all the ace attorney soundtracks" no listen.

i can see the other cross examination themes working in another ace attorney game, whether that game actually exists or not. for example, if capcom decided to send phoenix to london (outside of crossovers) the great ace attorney's cross examination theme wouldn't feel out of place. the original trilogy, the investigations collection, apollo justice, and spirit of justice's cross examination themes don't feel like they'd be out of place at all if you switched them up a bit (for example, put spirit of justice's cross examination theme in the hd version of the first game or investigations 2's confrontation theme in trials and tribulations). dual destinies though? its cross examination theme only works with the general vibe of dual destinies (ie, how dark it is compared to the rest of the series). it has a sense of foreboding that none of the other cross examination themes have.

that sense of foreboding makes complete sense too; the phantom is the most terrifying final culprit (hell, i'd argue most terrifying culprit in general) in any ace attorney game. yeah, there are people in positions of power who abuse their power (ga'ran, stronghart, and alba being examples), and kristoph and engarde are also pretty terrifying if you think about their actions for too long, but the phantom veers dual destinies from a courtroom battle mystery game into a borderline psychological horror game (and that's without all the other horror elements in cases that aren't turnabout for tomorrow; that anime cutscene in turnabout academy where hugh's hand is dripping in blood qualifies as horror material imo). if capcom had released turnabout for tomorrow as its own game, i am perfectly confident it would've qualified as psychological horror. i think the closest thing we get to horror of any sort outside dual destinies is bridge to the turnabout.

anyway. dual destinies' cross examination theme only works in dual destinies because it has a sense of foreboding that works really well in dual destinies because dual destinies has a tendency to veer hard left into being straight up horror at several points.

[jinxed-sinner]

My favorite detail in Hell's Greatest Dad is that when Lucifer starts the song, it's heavy on piano and trumpets, but once he gains more confidence (specifically, starting at "Who needs a busboy now that you've got the chef?") the trumpets are replaced by a violin (there's also a visible change in his mannerisms between the first part of his part and everything after "Who needs a busboy now that you've got the chef?"). Alastor cuts in and it's back to being heavy on piano and trumpets (and gets heavier on the trumpets when he says "I'm truly honored that we've built such a bond" to Charlie, similar to the specific point the violin in Lucifer's part starts) and stays that way for the rest of the song (until Mimzy comes in, at which point the instruments change almost completely). An A+ musical representation of Alastor stealing Lucifer's thunder.

[jinxed-sinner]

I often see people claim that alastor is someone that wants to presents himself as a good person, but I find his character to be a lot more complicated than just that. Sure he has his moments in which he states things he doesn't actually mean to manipulate others and make himself look better than he actually is (for example in ep 5 when he claims he sees charlie as a daughter, just to annoy lucifer), but even with the hotel he never tries to claim he is there to help, in fact it's quite the opposite "For the entertainment! I came here because I love seeing wasteful souls struggle to accomplish something meaningful, and fail spectacularly.'' There is also his whole radio demon persona that he carefully created. Overall it feels more like alastor tries to present himself as way more dangerous than he actually is (with this I'm not trying to say alastor isn't dangerous or manipulative).

People definitely act like Alastor is less complex than he actually is. It's something that makes me kinda sad actually. It's not that he's not manipulative or dangerous, as you said. It's that his motives likely aren't black and white (whether they actually are is yet to be seen, but considering Viv has described his morality as similar to Dexter and he won't physically attack anyone without reason, I am quite sure it's more likely his motives aren't black and white), and he's willing to do whatever he needs to do to reach his goals.

One thing I'm tired of seeing is people saying that we can't use A Day In The After Life as a basis for his morality because it's not canon. Aside from personally not being able to find any evidence of it not being canon anywhere (be it contradictions between the comic and the show or Viv stating that it's no longer canon), claiming the portrayal of his morality in A Day In The After Life isn't canon directly contradicts the series, where he's shown to only physically attack people if he's provoked/sees a reason. He verbally attacks people to fuck with them (which I say because this seems to be the case with Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad; both songs are basically Alastor messing with Vox and Lucifer because he thinks it's funny to annoy them), he saves physically attacking people for when it's necessary in his eyes (such as when he or something he cares about is threatened).

Speaking of him caring about some stuff, the first analysis I posted on this blog was that Alastor cares about the hotel, he just refuses to acknowledge/admit it because he either sees it as a sign of vulnerability, doesn't want to acknowledge that his facade is crumbling, or both. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have sent Mimzy away. He wouldn't have defended it on multiple occasions. He only looks panicked in Finale during the "Great Alastor, altruist, died for his friends" line, indicating to me at least that he realized he was growing to care about the hotel and its residents and that scared him.

Alastor also obviously cares about Charlie, at least in my opinion. I'm not the first to bring this up but I'm like 99% sure one of the reasons Alastor took Charlie to Rosie is because he knew she was having relationship troubles and Rosie specifically mentions that romance is her specialty (something Alastor likely knows by virtue of him and Rosie being best friends). Basically, "I don't know how to help you and don't want to, but I know someone who CAN help you and she's a romance expert!!" is a mentality I wouldn't be surprised if Alastor has. Like even if he does mostly care about what Charlie can do for him and he's protecting her for that reason, he still cares enough to specifically take her to a romance expert (I do recognize he probably had other motives for taking Charlie to Rosie; for example he's closest to Rosie out of every other Overlord, and they're best friends. However I think it's noteworthy that Rosie also portrays herself as a romance expert and is an expy of Dolly Levi from Hello, Dolly!, who is a matchmaker. Hell, even Alastor realizing Charlie needed help with her relationship with Vaggie and taking her to Rosie for that could have ulterior motives).

I've actually wondered a few times if Alastor trying to look more dangerous than he is comes from his demon form. He went from a predator (serial killer) in life to prey (a deer) in death. Deer aren't usually seen as threatening, unless they're provoked (and even then people are probably more likely to find the situation funny until they're either gored by a buck/bull's antlers or kicked in the chest). For a few months now I've kinda thought that Alastor can't control certain deer traits he has, or at least has to try incredibly hard to hide them. This is a conclusion I came to after trying to figure out when he makes deer noises (elk bugles and fawn bleats), and every time they seem out of his control, or like he can control it (or at least stop it) and just forgets to. This even extends to his ears — most of the time they're upright, but when he's particularly upset, they'll flatten. The thing that made me think he's constantly trying to keep his ears upright was these two screenshots from Finale, where they're half-flattened instead of straight up like they're usually seen:

It looks like he's struggling to maintain control over his ears to me. The lack of total control over his more deer-like traits would probably be a massive insecurity for him, especially if I'm right about his deer noises being involuntary (you cannot convince me this man who has built a reputation for being one of the most dangerous sinners in Hell would enjoy spontaneously bleating like a fawn. I doubt he'd mind the elk sounds as much because elk bugles are, under the right circumstances, chilling, but fawn bleats are something I can't see him enjoying because it would, in his eyes, make him less intimidating if people knew about it).

Interestingly it's implied that either people don't really know he's the Radio Demon, despite admitting he's the Radio Demon (according to Mimzy), or people know he's the Radio Demon and don't give a shit. Nobody panicked in Scrambled Eggs until Zestial showed up, which holds the implication, to me at least, that Alastor's nowhere near as intimidating as Zestial is (which makes me wonder what Zestial's done).

[jinxed-sinner]

I 100% think Alastor's behavior is a trauma response tbh. It feels like something happened that inhibited his ability to be fully open with other people, sorta like Blitz. In fact, how about we look at differences and similarities between Blitz and Alastor, since we know Blitz's behavior is a result of trauma?

Both Alastor and Blitz take pleasure in hurting other people. With Alastor, he doesn't care who he hurts (although I 100% think he'd feel guilt for hurting Rosie), while with Blitz, he cares about hurting other people when they're close to him (most recently made clear in Full Moon and Apology Tour). Blitz enjoys hurting people as long as he's not close to then/doesn't know them, which is, in my opinion, a likely reason he started a freelance assassin business (and I actually wouldn't be surprised if it contributed to IMP changing their business from a general Hell assassin business to an assassin business that focuses on offing humans that have wronged sinners). The main difference here is that Alastor's emotional responses are muted (which is why he's significantly less likely to act out), while Blitz's resemble splitting in BPD.

Both Alastor and Blitz are reckless and impulsive. Alastor's recklessness is most clearly seen in The Show Must Go On when he fights Adam, while Blitz's recklessness is made clear throughout Helluva Boss (takes his team to the human world without proper disguises, visits a party where if anyone except Verosika and Stolas knew he was there he would be murdered for it, etc). Alastor also berated Husk on an impulse born from already being stressed out. I can't really think of any specific examples of Blitz's impulsivity and I can't decide if it's because he's so consistently impulsive or if it's because I genuinely can't think of any examples lol

Neither of these two assholes (affectionate) will open up to people unless something forces them to (and potentially not even then in Alastor's case). The only times Blitz has opened up is if he's forced to (Truth Seekers) or if circumstances lower his inhibition (emotional outbursts, Queen Bee, arguably also Truth Seekers). The closest we've gotten to Alastor "opening up" is his mental breakdown that he had when he knew he was alone.

They're both still capable of making genuine connections. Alastor is incredibly close to Rosie (something I personally think is because she has motherly tendencies), and Blitz, despite all his tendencies towards them, seems to consider Moxxie and Millie friends. They're both capable of forming genuine connections, but don't, at least not often; for Blitz, it's because he's afraid of it, and for Alastor, it's likely because he either views it as a weakness or would just rather manipulate people for his own benefit.

It feels a lot like Blitz and Alastor have similar types of trauma; their responses to that trauma are simultaneously similar enough to be comparable and on wildly different ends of the same spectrum. Blitz craves connection, so he seeks it out, then sabotages it when he thinks it's going too far. Alastor avoids connection aside from a few genuine close friendships here and there that he can count on one hand.

I don't think Alastor is incapable of forming genuine emotional bonds with other people, and Rosie and Zestial are proof of that. It comes off more like he actively avoids connection; he doesn't interact much with the hotel's staff and residents aside from Charlie and Niffty, and when everyone's partying in The Show Must Go On, he's watching from afar with Niffty. I also feel like you can easily interpret Alastor's muted emotional responses as him actively trying to mute them; he sounds like he's actively trying not to have a breakdown after he gets slashed by Adam.

He would've largely grown up probably between 1895 and 1915 (or something close to that, depending on his age when he died) as a mixed race kid in New Orleans. You absolutely can not convince me that alone did not in some way contribute to how he is now. Add in a potentially abusive dad and yeah, is it really surprising that Alastor is the way he is? It genuinely just feels like he's a product of his circumstances in childhood. This is doubly the case if the theories that 1, his first murder was that of his dad, and 2, he basically did vigilantism turn out to be true. He himself implies he finds it cathartic to kill the loan sharks in Dad Beat Dad and is pretty much content the rest of the episode after that, he doesn't even seem to care that he's sharing a space with Lucifer after that. I'd be more surprised if his killings in his human life weren't him taking out his trauma on people he thought deserved it to be completely honest.

*Also as a last minute addition, I think it's also easy to interpret Alastor's attitude towards emotions and relationships as viewing them as a weakness, something that it's very likely is also a sign of him being a product of the time period and circumstances he was raised in.